GULLANE, Scotland – The adventure of Sam Burns on the par-5 10e Saturday’s hole at the Genesis Scottish Open started with a corner kick he admitted he caught “a little low” and a gravity-defying tight spot that led to a bogey triple 8.
Burns’ second shot from the fairway bunker was thrown too low to clear the lip and the ball snagged on the wall. He called for a decision and two officials, one from the PGA Tour and the other from the DP World Tour, debated his situation for nearly 10 minutes.
“There was a joint of grass. Freshly laid grass above the bunker that is not on any other bunker. I was asking if that made me feel better,” Burns said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
The question was whether the turf in front of the bunker was interfering with Burns’ swing and ultimately the officials decided that was not the case and he was forced to play the ball from the face of the wall.
“They both said if it was a different part of the golf course I would have been relieved, then suddenly someone came on the radio and said, ‘No [relief].’ That was kind of the end of the conversation,” Burns said. “It’s just frustrating when someone who isn’t even there makes the call.”
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Prior to his troubles at No. 10, Burns was 8 under par and just four strokes off the lead. Despite playing his last eight holes at 2 under par, he finished with a 1 of 71 and was tied for 18e place, six behind Rory McIlroy.
“I could have taken an unplayable [lie]. In my opinion, I think it should have been [free] a relief just because obviously there’s grass there that’s unlike any other bunker on the golf course,” Burns said. “It’s like that.”