Rafael Cabrera-Bello is just before he crashed into the seventh hole on Friday at the 2020 Wyndham Championship.
On Friday at the 2020 Wyndham Championship, Rafael Cabrera-Bello’s golf ball fell into the seventh hole for a birdie at least 25 seconds after it first landed on the rim of the cup.
Cabrera-Bello was not penalized for waiting for the putt out, although some have wondered why considering the time elapsed before the putt entered.
Now we know we count the Tour regulation officials among those who questioned the lack of a penalty in the case of Cabrera-Bello.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Cabrera-Bello revealed rules officials met him for putt following his round. According to him, they thought he had waited too long and deserved a penalty, and it took some convincing on his part to remain without penalty.
“So what they wanted to tell me about is that they felt it took too long to get close to the hole,” Cabrera-Bello said Friday night. “We reviewed the footage and the referee said it was so, so close and so tight, but they wanted to know if I should deliberately slow down my walk to the hole and I told them I didn’t, I slowed down because I saw my playmates enter “.
Under Rule 13.3a, in such a scenario players have a reasonable time to approach the ball and then another 10 seconds to wait for it to fall. If he falls after that time, the player receives a penalty stroke.
Realizing this, the crucial question was whether Cabrera-Bello had taken a “reasonable” time to get to his ball. It appears that his explanation was sufficient to satisfy the official rules available, and a 2 remains on his scorecard for the seventh hole.
It’s also good, because after another strong round on Saturday, Cabrera-Bello is in contention to win it all on Sunday.
You can watch a video of his putt below.
