GULLANE, Scotland – Sam Burns’ adventure on the par-5 10th hole on Saturday at the Genesis Scottish Open began with a wedge shot that he admitted he caught “a little low” and a gravity-defying predicament that led to triple-bogey 8.
Burns’ second shot from the fairway bunker launched too low to clear the lip and the ball hung on the wall. He called for a ruling and two officials, one from the PGA Tour and the other from the DP World Tour, debated his predicament for nearly 10 minutes.
“There was a sod seam. Freshly laid sod on top of the bunker that’s not on any other bunker. I was asking if I could get relief from that,” Burns said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
The question was whether the sod in the face of the bunker interfered with Burns’ swing and ultimately officials decided it did not and he was forced to play the ball from the wall face.
“Both of them said if it was any other part of the golf course I would have gotten relief and then all of a sudden 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 that’s not even there makes the call.”
Full-field scores from the Genesis Scottish Open
Before his issues at No. 10, Burns was at 8 under par and just four shots off the lead. Despite playing his final eight holes in 2 under par, he finished with a 1-over 71 and was tied for 18th place, six back of Rory McIlroy.
“I could have taken an unplayable [lie]. In my opinion I think it should have been [free] relief just because there’s obviously sod there that’s different than any other bunker on the golf course,” Burns said. “It is what it is.”