Brooks Koepka involved in lengthy rules incident at LIV Golf Houston

After a short summer break, LIV Golf returned on Friday with LIV Golf Houston and after a round of 65 strokes (seven under par), Martin Kaymer, Adrian Meronk and Caleb Surratt share the lead.

However, it was a rules incident during the first round at the Golf Club of Houston that attracted the most attention: Brooks Koepka was involved in a lengthy rules debacle that does not often occur in the professional world.

A closer look at Brooks Koepka’s drop on the 4th #LIVGolf @SmashGC pic.twitter.com/gpaNMoY60ZJune 7, 2024

Koepka began the first hole in a shotgun start format and made a birdie on his first hole before two pars followed. But it was a moment on the par-5 fourth hole that caught the eye of the LIV Golf broadcast team, when the five-time major winner hit the water to the left of the green with his approach shot.

Along a steep embankment, Koepka and his playing partner Patrick Reed had a long discussion about where the ball should go, and even after they had agreed on where Koepka could drop the golf ball, the incident was not over yet…

As mentioned, the slope around the green caused the ball to roll back into the hazard twice when teeing off. According to the Rules of Golf, Koepka was allowed to place the ball, but that was easier said than done as his ball would not stay put when the American put it back several times. Eventually, he was allowed to place it near the hole, but not any closer to it, and Koepka made bogey after the incident.

Under Rule 14.2e: “If the player attempts to replace a ball but it does not come to rest in its original place, the player must try again. If the ball again does not come to rest in that place, the player must replace the ball by placing it in the nearest place where the ball came to rest, subject to these restrictions, depending on where the original place is: the place must not be nearer the hole and the nearest place must be in the general vicinity. Failure to do so and the ball played from an incorrect place violates Rule 14.2 and incurs a penalty of two strokes.”

After the fourth hole, Koepka made par on the first nine holes, with a birdie and an eagle on the 12th and 13th holes to move him to three under par. A bogey on the 14th and a birdie on the 15th followed, and a final bogey on the par-4 18th gave him a two-under-par round and a tie for 26th place heading into the weekend.

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