Jordan Spieth Takes Advantage of Rules at PGA Championship

Jordan Spieth came into the PGA Championship needing a victory to complete the PGA grand slam. While he entered the tournament with high expectations, Spieth has struggled to remain in contention but his savvy rules play helped him out in round two.

Spieth began his round steady with many pars but after stepping up to the tee on the 10th hole, Spieth found himself stuck in the trees down the side of the fairway. The ball ended up on the cart path and afforded Spieth the opportunity to have a free drop. Where Spieth was supposed to drop the ball, however, was covered with pine needles, giving him an idea.

Spieth remembered that pine needles are considered a loose impediment and could be heard conversing with a rules official about just that. “How can I make a mistake here? What can’t I do?” Spieth said to the official that was at the hole.”What you can’t do is move anything that’s growing or fixed,” the ref replied.

"How could I make a mistake here?"

Jordan Spieth checks in with a rules official after his wayward tee shot on 10. #PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/A1zYRnLJU3

— PGA of America (@PGA) August 11, 2017

After conversing with the rules official, Spieth began cleaning the drop area of all pine needles that could interfere with his ball striking ability. After removing all the needles, Spieth attempted two drops but the ball rolled right back onto the cart path. This allowed Spieth to place the ball on a nice patch of dirt that he had made, allowing him to make the cleanest contact possible from that position.

The whole ordeal took a little less than five minutes and it didn’t even work out like he had hoped. In fact, Spieth made even better contact than he expected, hitting the ball a little long and into the treeline on the other side of the fairway. Spieth would go on to bogey the hole but he avoided a much bigger number thanks to the savvy rule play.

Spieth still remains a few shots out of serious contention for the PGA Championship but with more smart plays like what he pulled off on the 10th hole, he could find himself back in the mix over the weekend.

Cover Photo via YouTube