What is a mudball? Here’s why golfers were ‘infuriated’ in the third round at the Hero World Challenge
During the third round of the Hero World Challenge, golfers were seen complaining about the mudball on the course.
The championship successfully concluded on Sunday, December 4 but the golfers were seen complaining about the condition of the course. They were engaged in the search for the ball rather than playing due to the same.
Mudball in golf is a term used to define the ball when some debris or soil sticks to it. It affects the players' performance, mainly the direction and distance of the hit.
Kevin Kisner called out to the officials to search for his ball, while Collin Morikawa spent half his time helping Tom Kim search for his golf ball. In the first two rounds, golfers were allowed to clean the ball. However, they were denied in the third, and the result was horrible.
Although it rained last week in Albany, the ground was dry enough for the golfers to play the ball down in the first two rounds. After that, as mud balls plagued the field, the players struggled to identify their balls.
Speaking about the tour's decision, Kevin Kisner said:
"Absolutely shocked, yeah. No. 4 had a 4-iron in with mud all over the left side with the wind off the left and lost the ball left of the green. Pretty hard to aim it in the middle of that. But the leaders aren't having any problems, so wasn't too hard for everyone."
Meanwhile, NBC analyst Paul Azinger said, as reported by Golf.com:
"It will be hard to complain about mud wrecking a score when you've got a guy making 10 birdies. Guys that are complaining need to check their attitude at the door."
It is important to note that, in the finale, Norway's Viktor Hovland clinched the championship over Scottie Scheffler.
Golfers complained about the mudball
The third round of the 2022 Hero World Challenge wreaked havoc because of the mudball that infuriated the golfers.
Numerous golfers who had the lead in the second round were affected in the third round by mud-covered balls. The players voiced their complaints about the same to the officials.
Justin Thomas said:
"You're pretty much-getting mud on every single drive, you just have to hope you don't get a lot."
The runner-up of the 2022 Hero World Challenge, Scheffler, could not hold back and said:
"You pretty much have no idea the golf ball's going to do. It's not something that I would practice at home just because it's not something that I believe should happen on the golf course. I practice all kinds of crazy lies, shots, everything you can imagine, but a mudball is something you can't replicate at home."
Victor Hovland also had a couple of mudballs, but it wasn't that bad. He also talked about his experience on the course. Hovland said:
"I had a couple (of mudballs), but it honestly wasn't that bad. Feel like I kind of got lucky on that side of it. I had a slight mudball on 18, like flew a little bit weird, but I didn't hit the greatest of shots."
Likewise, Collin Morikawa got lucky and did not have many breaks during the championship.