Bill Haas and Ryan Moore were each penalized two shots on Thursday in the opening round of The Barclays when they hit each other's golf ball.
It's unclear how it happened, but Moore and Haas played each other's ball with their tee shots to the par-4 17th. The balls landed fairly close each other to the left side of the fairway.
It was a violation of Rule 15-3. The penalty under the rule also includes the stipulation that the players have to go back and replay their ball from the original spot where they should’ve played it in the first place. In this case, that meant the players had to return to the fairway and drop approximately where their balls had stopped.
Haas went on to shoot 1-over 71 and trail the co-leaders, including Bubba Watson, by six shots after Day 1 at Plainfield Country Club. Moore wasn't so fortunate, shooting 75. However, even if Moore misses the cut, he is comfortably positioned to reach at least the BMW Championship, the third leg of four events in the FedEx Cup playoffs.
This is the second time in 15 months that this penalty has been assessed. At the 2014 U.S. Open, Jamie Donaldson and Hunter Mahan were on the receiving end of the same penalty.
