Brooks Koepka Gets 200-Club-Length Relief in Strange Ruling at LIV Golf Singapore

Brooks Koepka received a 200-club-length relief in one of the more strange rulings at LIV Golf Singapore over the weekend, and that’s not an exact estimate for clarification.

Koepka hit his tee shot on the Par 4, 13th hole at Sentosa Golf Club out to the right, through some trees and behind a “Fan Village,” which had Brooks and caddy, Ricky Elliot, wanting temporary immovable obstruction relief.

This was something I saw firsthand last August at the BMW Championship with Joachim Niemann on Sunday, who hit his tee shot behind one of the large-but-temporary Rolex scoreboards that surround the 18th green. The relief process was interesting, especially as it was the first time all weekend I had gotten to see a rules official interact with a player.

The rule gives relief to a player who has:

• Physical interference
• Line of sight interference
• a combination of both,
• a ball touching or lies in or on a TIO
• a swing that is interfered with by the TIO
• a player whose line of sight is obstructed by the TIO

Elliot confirmed to commentators that Koepka was receiving line of sight relief, as the TIO directly obstructed his sight of the green and hole.

Koepka was given permission to pick his ball up, and he then started walking to….the middle of the 16th fairway.

David Feherty said (via Golf.com):

“Well, he’s about 200 club lengths from where he was.”

Koepka would ultimately hit the fairway with his second shot and two-putt to make par.

It is now the second time in recent memory that Koepka has been the subject of rules conversations, as the four-time Major winner also was the subject of some controversy at the Masters when Elliott appeared to indicate which club he used to Gary Woodland on the Par 5, 15th.

If you go back and watch on the “Holes 15 and 16” feed, it looks like Koepka’s caddie says “5” to Woodland’s caddie after Brooks’ 2nd shot.

Which, at first glance, looked like he was saying that Brooks hit 5-iron (Woodland had not hit yet). https://t.co/hd2yctOqDC

— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) April 6, 2023

Koepka wouldn’t be found guilty of any infraction, and he went on to finish T-2 at -8. This past weekend in Singapore, Koepka finished in 3rd, just one back of winner Talor Gooch, who beat Sergio Garcia in a playoff.

Cover Image Via LIV Golf