EIGHT’S ENOUGH: Tiger Woods, dropping his ball on the 15th hole Friday at the Masters, was penalized two strokes by the competition committee for an improper drop, turning his bogey six into an eight. (
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SWEATING IT OUT: Tiger Woods, who avoided disqualification for a a drop error in Friday’s second round of the Masters, reacts after finishing yesterday’s third round four shots off the lead. (Getty Images)
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Controversy erupted at the Masters before a ball was struck to begin the third round yesterday when Tiger Woods was assessed a two-shot penalty for an improper drop the tournament committee determined he took on the 15th hole on Friday.
Woods was not disqualified, though, which raised a firestorm of questions from people around the game about whether he was given star treatment.
Instead of entering yesterday at 3-under par, three shots off the lead, Woods was dropped to 1-under par, five shots out of the lead.
If you thought Tianlang Guan’s one-shot penalty for slow play on Friday was controversial, the Woods flap eclipsed it — eliciting a passionate, international debate about whether Woods should have been disqualified and whether Masters officials handled it properly.
Conspiracy theories were bouncing off the tall pines lining the fairways like errant tee shots.
When one of the most bizarre days in Masters history was complete — with the rest of the field’s play seemingly rendered irrelevant — Woods shot a 2-under 70 to position himself at 3-under for the tournament, four shots out of the lead and with a legitimate chance to win today.
“It started off obviously different,” Woods said of the day, which began with him being summoned to Augusta National to meet tournament officials at 8 a.m., nearly six hours before his 1:45 p.m. tee time. “But I’m right there in the ballgame … four back with a great shot to win this championship.”
The saga began on the 15th hole Friday after Woods, who was 5-under and tied for the tournament lead, hit a seemingly perfect third shot that hit the flag stick and bounded backward into Rae’s Creek.
Woods took a drop, but eschewed the drop area because he didn’t like the look of the lie, instead taking the ball a couple of yards behind his original divot from the third shot. That violated Rule 26-1 of the Rules of Golf, which states the player must use the drop area or drop the ball as close to the original spot as possible.
After the round, Woods told reporters he intentionally took the drop two yards back because it was a better yardage for him to hit his fifth shot, which he hit to six feet en route to bogey.
The rules committee looked at the replays while Woods was finishing his round and decided there was no problem with the drop.
However, later in the evening, when Woods’ post-round admission that he dropped for a specific yardage was brought to the attention of Fred Ridley, the Masters chairman of rules and competition, the committee ruled Woods was in violation.
Ridley contacted Woods yesterday morning and summoned him for a meeting at the club, where he was assessed the two-shot penalty, turning the bogey 6 on the hole into a triple-bogey 8. But he was not disqualified.
“Tiger could not have been more candid,” Ridley said.
Had this occurred two years ago, Woods would have been disqualified because he would have signed an incorrect scorecard.
But a rule change now allows the rules committee discretion when it comes to violations reported after the fact. No rules official made a ruling on the matter before Woods signed his card.
Asked yesterday whether he considered disqualifying himself, Woods said he thought none of it.
“Under the rules of golf, I can play,” he said. “If if was done a year or two ago, I wouldn’t have the opportunity to play.”
Woods, before his 1:45 p.m. tee time, wrote on Twitter that he took a drop he “thought was correct and in accordance with the rules.” He added, “I understand and accept the penalty and respect the Committees’ decision.”
There were many in the golf world, however, who did not respect the decision and believed Woods should have been disqualified by the committee or disqualified himself.
“He should really sit down and think about this and the mark this will leave on his career, his legacy, everything,” Nick Faldo said on the Golf Channel.
Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee said, “This casts a dark shadow over the proceedings. Tiger had a chance to do the right thing today, and he didn’t do it. This is going to follow Tiger Woods around for the rest of his life.”
mark.cannizzaro@nypost.com