WATCH: Zach Johnson hits ball on practice swing but there's no penalty
Have you ever seen this happen in professional golf before?
Zach Johnson produced one of the most bizarre moments in major championship golf on day two of the Masters when he struck his golf ball on his practice swing into the tee marker!
Johnson, the 2007 Masters champion, uttered an expletive during the incident which happened on the tee at the famous par-5 13th in front of playing partners Ian Poulter and Matt Kuchar.
According the Rules of Golf, however, it did not result in a penalty as a tee ball is only considered 'in play' when a player 'intends to it'. The Rules of Golf state: "A player has started a hole when he or she makes a stroke to begin the hole" - a stroke is defined as "the forward movement of the club made to strike the ball."
Given the two-time major champion did not 'intend' to strike the ball, there was no penalty. Just embarrassment. Watch the incident below...
We've all been there...
Zach Johnson hits the ball on his practice swing at 13!
Luckily for him, he was able to retake and he went on to make birdie pic.twitter.com/xO7wsEiPYM— Sky Sports Golf (@SkySportsGolf) April 12, 2019
Johnson re-teed his ball and smashed it down the middle of the fairway en route to making a birdie to get himself just inside the cut line during the second round's play.
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