Luke Donald, the Ryder Cup captain, has criticised the US Golf Association (USGA) after Gordon Sargent, the leading amateur, saw a putt at the US Open bounce out of the hole.
Sargent’s par attempt from two feet on the 18th hole in Sunday’s final round was struck perfectly into the centre of the cup, but leapt back out onto the green.
The 20-year-old was still guaranteed to finish as the leading amateur following a 69 which left him four over par, but European Ryder Cup captain Donald was not impressed with the tournament organisers.
“This is unacceptable! Does the @USGA go fix this mid round? This should never happen,” Donald tweeted.
Donald was far from the only one shocked at what he saw on the 18th green. Former Masters winner and broadcast analyst Trevor Immelman questioned if the cup was “not deep enough on 18?”, while former Ryder Cup player and six-time PGA Tour winner Hunter Mahan asked: “What just happened to Sargent????? How could that happen?!”
Mahan also questioned what would have happened if the same thing had affected a player contesting for the overall title, which was won by Wyndham Clark by a single stroke from Rory McIlroy.
The USGA said the jumping ball was caused by the hole being damaged by a player or caddie in the previous pairing of Ryan Gerard and Mackenzie Hughes. The group reportedly had trouble removing the flag from the hole and are likely to have dislodged the inner cup, creating a lip which Sargent’s ball bounced off.
A USGA spokesperson said: “A member of the group ahead inadvertently adjusted the hole liner when removing the flagstick. Unfortunately, we were not informed of any damage. It has since been adjusted back into place.”
The additional shot did not affect Sargent, who still finished as the lowest amateur and did not miss out on any prize money as only professionals are entitled to take winnings from the majors.
“You probably saw what happened on 18,” Sargent said after his round. “I had like a two-and-a-half footer straight up the hill that hit the back of the hole and just bounced right back to me. Haven’t seen that happen in a while, but that’s how it goes sometimes.”
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