PGA Tour throwback video to BIZARRE rules incident involving Ian Poulter
Ian Poulter almost suffered a two-shot penalty at 2004 The Players Championship over a very strange incident on the green.
The PGA Tour reminded golf fans of a rather bizarre incident at the 2004 Players Championship where Ian Poulter almost suffered a two-stroke penalty after he accidentally threw his ball in the water whilst on the green.
This week, the best players in the world head to the iconic TPC Sawgrass for The Players Championship, the flagship event of the PGA Tour.
It was at this event last year where the coronavirus pandemic took its toll on golf, when The Players Championship was cancelled after the opening round in an attempt to limit the spread of the virus, which then saw the PGA Tour halted for 91 days.
With one of the most exciting events of the year returning to our televisions, the PGA Tour posted one of its popular Tour Valt videos, highlighting the interesting incident involving Ryder Cup veteran Poulter.
In 2004, Poulter had a birdie putt but as soon as he made contact with it, he reacted by walking after it in disgust. The ball rolled several feet past the hole and the Englishman marked his ball, before swiping at it in an angry attempt to pick it up, but he ended up sending the ball flying into the water.
The problem was that as Poulter hadn't finished the hole yet, he needed to identify his ball otherwise he would receive a two-shot penalty.
WATCH THE BIZARRE THROWBACK VIDEO BELOW:
Whoops, @IanJamesPoulter. #TOURVault pic.twitter.com/2gTzXvx0Zr
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 9, 2021
Now of couse Poulter wasn't about to go into the water himself to find his ball, but luckily his physical therapist Kam Bhabra was happy to go in there for him.
After feeling around in the water, Bhabra found a golf ball and threw it to Poulter, who then confirmed it was his ball and proceeded to role it in for a par, but it could have been an absolute disaster for Poulter.
"Note to self... don't swipe balls up in anger at The Players Championship," Poulter said in response to the PGA Tour's video on Twitter.
