Jordan Spieth and Henrik Stenson get two-shot penalties after tee shots from wrong hole
“Put the ball down and hit some beautiful tee shots. Then when we went down to the hole, went down to the balls.”
According to the PGA Tour, someone working in the TV trucks picked up on the error and informed chief referee Stephen Cox about the infraction.
Having been notified of the mistake, the pair — both former winners of the Tiger Woods-hosted event — walked back to the correct tee and drove off the correct marker.
Both were handed a two-shot penalty for the mistake, but had they not noticed and completed the hole, they would have been disqualified.
Stenson would eventually finish with a 72 for a second-from-last 19th place finish, while Spieth shot 76 to finish 20th.
Despite the mix up, the pair were able to laugh about the event afterwards.
“Let’s just leave it that a little note on the tee box would have been helpful and I will make sure I tee it up on the right tee box in the future because I don’t think I’ve ever done this before. Have a nice Christmas everyone and we’ll see you in the new year.”
Taking advantage
At the other end of the leaderboard, it was a day to forget for Collin Morikawa.
The American began the final round five shots ahead of his nearest challenger.
With a victory at the Hero World Championship, Morikawa would have become the world No. 1, just the fourth player to reach the top of the rankings before the age of 25, alongside Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Spieth.
However, it started terribly for the two-time major winner, shooting an error-strewn, front-nine 41 to come back to the pack.
Meanwhile, Norway’s Viktor Hovland made three straight birdies early on to put himself into contention.
Hovland shot back-to-back eagles on the 14th and 15th as well as birdieing the 16th to establish a lead. Such was his advantage, he was even able to bogey the 17th and 18th and still finish in first position.
For Hovland, who is projected to move up to eighth in the world with the victory, it is the perfect way to head into Christmas, which he plans to spend back in Norway.
“So, for me to be here and winning tournaments is pretty unreal,” he added.
