Thomas Pieters lined up a putt in Friday's second round of the 2022 Cazoo Open de France at Le Golf National. He appeared to put his putter head behind the ball and started taking a stroke. Ultimately, Pieters chunked the putt, hitting it well off the toe and nowhere near the intended line for the roll.
We’ve all been there. Wait, have we actually? pic.twitter.com/GpHfb8OQBH
— Ben Coley (@BenColeyGolf) September 23, 2022
That happens to golfers sometimes -- even the best in the world (see: Zach Johnson at the Masters).
However, Pieters was able to get a re-do of the putt. Why?
After hitting the stubbed putt, Pieters turned in disgust, like a guy who had made a massive mistake while on the fringes of contention at a professional tournament.
However, he spoke with a DP World Tour official, saying that he genuinely did not intend to make contact with the ball. He meant to stop his stroke before impact because he heard someone coughing, and that affected his stroke. Under the Rules of Golf, he then should be allowed to replace the ball to its original position and replay the stroke without any penalty or the apparent practice stroke counting.
Ultimately, the rules official agreed, and Pieters was allowed to hit the putt again.
