If the Texan Scottie Scheffler still has a comfortable lead over his first pursuer, it is also thanks to his good knowledge of the rules which certainly saved him from a heavier score at 18 during the 3rd round of the Masters.
At 25, Scottie Scheffler seems to have mastered the intricacies of the rules. At Augusta’s 18 on Saturday they helped him put himself in the best of situations to get the green on the last par 4 of his day on the third shot.
Rather effective so far on his face-offs (11 fairways out of 13) Scottie Scheffler embarked on his drive on the left at 18 and after a few cold sweats when looking for it, the Texan took advantage several points of the rules in order to play a shot towards the green in the best conditions. Explanations:
1/ On the television images we see him first identify his ball. He picks it up to make sure it is his own and without cleaning it he puts it back on.
2/ He determines a reference point two club lengths from where it was resting and circumscribes an area where he will then drop.
3/ Before the actual drop, he cleans the area by removing as many pine needles as possible, which are considered “detritus” in the rules.
4/ He tests the nature of the ground as he has the right to do to check that there are no hidden roots.
5/ He drops his ball at knee height and it rolls twice out of the drop zone.
6/ Therefore he is allowed to place the ball where it made contact with the ground the second time.
His iron shot of 217 meters from this area allows him to then reach the back of the green and save the bogey.
Photo ©David Cannon/Getty Images/AFP
