PGA Championship 2012: Carl Pettersson Penalized 2 Shots For Grounding Club

There isn’t a single bunker on the course -- however many “sandy areas” -- but a golfer still managed to ground his club in a hazard at the Kiawah Island Ocean Course.

Carl Pettersson was playing the first hole of his final round when his tee-shot sailed right and settled in a clearly marked hazard area. During his second swing, Pettersson took his club back and clipped what appeared to be a dead leaf, which is the same as grounding one’s club.

Pettersson managed to salvage what he thought was a routine par, having not taken the two-shot penalty on the first hole. Tournament officials quickly took to instant replay to see if a penalty was to be enforced, which ultimately was the case as Pettersson later learned. Thus, what was once a par now quickly became a double-bogey.

Rule 13-4 in the USGA Rules of Golf states that a player may not touch a loose impediment in a hazard on the backswing but may make contact on the downswing. Had Pettersson swept the leaf on his way down to hitting the ball, no penalty would have been enforced.