Oakmont, Pa. — Sam Burns was denied water mitigation on hole 15 in the USGA Rule Championship round on Sunday, despite appealing to two USGA Rule officials.
Lead’s sole owner and tied up in seventh place in four overs entering the day, Burns made a stroke from the lead when he teeed off at 15. The shot splatters to the right of the rolling fairway, further soaking the already saturated turf with water from the intense afternoon rain.
Burns investigated the lies and believed that he should be saved from casual water as his practice sent a spray of water from his club. However, the officials of the rules disagreed.
“When I got into it, obviously you could see the water coming,” Burns said. “I practiced swings, and every time the water just splashes. It was called the formula of the rules and they disagree. I saw it again. I thought maybe I should get a second opinion.
“In the end, it’s not up to me, it depends on the formula of the rules. It’s kind of thing.”
Burns was forced to play the ball and tried to avoid the water as much as possible. He sent the ball across the fairway and sent it to the thick fescue in the rough on the left. Seeing Shot sailing to the left, Burns swings the club in frustration, drawing out another spray of water that appears to underscore his plea to the officials of the rules.
By the end of the hole he scored a second double bogey of the afternoon and slid to two shots behind the lead.
“I did everything I could,” Burns said. “I was 100% trapped in what I was trying to do. In the end, I felt like the water was just getting in the way and I left. It’s what that is.”
That was the afternoon for Burns. He had the worst round of Sunday’s tournament as he continues to pursue his first big victory. He recorded 8 over 78 in the round, with six strokes worse than the 72 he shot in the first round. He also recorded two double bogeys in the final round after recording only one in the previous three.
On his first double bogey in the afternoon, Burns’ tee shot first landed on the fairway at No. 11, but eventually rolled into a bit of a divot in the long grass. From there, his shot was ricocchetted around the green, eventually tapping on a 2-foot putt.
“It happens,” Burns said. “You play enough golf, hit it with a divot, everyone does.”
Adam Scott, who was paired with Barnes in the final round, almost sought his own water relief several times after play resumed after a 96-minute weather break.
“It was a boundary that you can’t play,” Scott said. “The water seemed very close to the surface. It’s weird, like the shot that hit on 11. I don’t know. It was like aquaplane on the ground.
“He tried to hit five irons on the 15th. It’s difficult. It’s a tough call, but we played. Everyone had to deal with it.”
Even with frustration in a non-ideal state and disappointment in a lack of another major major, he later spoke with reporters, so the burns were not hindered.
“Look, I went there and gave me the best I had,” he said. “Golf is a hard game, especially on this golf course. At the end of the day, you can hold your head high.”