BREAKING: Collin Morikawa gets a penalty for using “green reading materials”
Collin Morikawa is currently playing at the 2023 Hero World Challenge. He is eighth on the leaderboard in the ongoing fourth round at the Albany Golf Club in the Bahamas.
Although he shot 2 under par on Sunday, this has not reflected in his overall standings. Morikawa was handed a two-stroke penalty on Saturday as he was accused of breaching "Model Local Rule G-11". As per the PGA Tour, he was found using "green-reading materials other than their yardage book". The statement read,
"Collin Morikawa has been assessed a two-stroke penalty for a breach of Model Local Rule G-11, which restricts the use of green-reading materials. The breach occurred on No. 4 during the third round."
Stephen Cox, the Vice President of Rules & Tournament Administration of the PGA Tour, informed in the statement that Collin Morikawa's caddie Jonathan Jakovac was found using a "level on the practice putting green" to calculate the surface slope and wrote it on Morikawa's yardage book which caused the violation.
"It comes down to use of this handwritten note. Because he used it for assessing the putt during his third round then he was assessed a two-stroke penalty. Fortunately, that is the only time the player or caddie has accessed that information … and on that basis, the breach remained at two strokes," Cox said.
Stephen Cox added that Collin Morikawa was allowed to calculate the slope of the surface and memorize the formula. However, it counted as a violation since it was written in his yardage book.
How has Collin Morikawa performed at the 2023 Hero World Challenge?
The 26-year-old American started his campaign at the Albany Golf Club in the Bahamas on Thursday with a round of 3 under 69. His scorecard included six birdies and three bogeys in the first round.
Collin Morikawa repeated the same in the second round of the 2023 Hero World Challenge on Friday. He shot a round of 3 under 69 with five birdies and two bogeys.
His third round at the Albany Golf Club was full of ups and downs. Morikawa shot eight blistering birdies on Saturday. However, due to two double bogeys, a bogey, and a two-stroke penalty, he could only manage an overall score of 2 under 70.
Collin Morikawa has successfully completed 13 holes in the fourth round. He has shot three birdies and a bogey to get to 2 under 34 on the front nine holes. However, he has so far shot three consecutive pars on the back nine.