PGA Tour fans question TIO rule as shock new evidence comes to light over Matt Kuchar drop
PGA Tour fans are debating whether Matt Kuchar should really have received a free drop onto the adjacent fairway because of a TIO.
We promise, this is the final Matt Kuchar article you will read this week.
But it's a good one, a controversial debate for you at least, not so much aimed at Kuchar but more the golf rule book.
A new image has just surfaced of the free drop Kuchar was able to take when he returned to finish off the final hole at the Wyndham Championship on Monday.
Related: Matt Kuchar instantly called for a TIO (!) when he returned to the Wyndham on Monday
When Kuchar eventually got down to his golf ball in the thick rough left of the par-4 18th, he noticed how a scoreboard was located beyond a large cluster of trees in front of him.
Under the rules of golf, Kuchar was able to claim free line of sight relief under a Temporary Immovable Obstruction (TIO).
This was because a PGA Tour scoreboard - aka a TIO - was located on his direct line to the pin.
Here's a quick definition for you:
Kuchar was therefore able to a take free drop and move further over to the left onto the adjacent fairway.
It gave him a much clearer shot to the pin.
As a result, he played his second shot just short of the green from outside of 200 yards.
He then chipped up to two feet and knocked home the par putt to finish T12.
The par saved him some $60,000 and also bumped himself up to 103rd in the points list, crucial with his top 125 status for a 2025 PGA Tour card looming come the end of the year.
Kuchar apologised to volunteers and event crew for making them come back 12 hours later to allow him to finish off his round.
One PGA Tour pro labelled Kuchar's decision to return on Monday as 'wild' and 'weird'.
New image sheds light on Kuchar's drop for a TIO
As we say, Kuchar was well within the rules to ask a PGA Tour rules official for a TIO.
Therefore there should be no finger-pointing at the nine-time PGA Tour winner as such.
But the rule itself can be challenged.
Isn't this supposed to be a gentleman's game?
What a large number of PGA Tour fans are up in arms about - especially after seeing the new image below of what faced Kuchar - is how on earth the scoreboard some 150 yards in the distance was really ever going to interfere with the shot he faced.
Especially with his ball wedged deep down in the rough and a cluster of tall, large trees directly in front of him.
You could argue if Kuchar somehow managed to hit the scoreboard from there then he deserved to win the tournament.
If he was not able to claim for a TIO then he would have been chopping his ball out sideways onto the fairway and it would have more than likely resulted in a bogey.
The TIO saved Kuchar a shot, and he knew it.
Some fans even consider Kuchar caught wind of the drop he wanted to take as early as Sunday night, and that's the most obvious reason why he decided to return on Monday and not finish off the hole with his two playing partners Max Greyserman and Chad Ramey.
Had Kuchar called for a TIO on Sunday night then it might have been pitch black by the time he got round to taking full relief.
Anyway, PGA Tour fans have been reacting to the TIO rule after a new image was posted on X / Twitter by @Top100Rick. Check it out below.
Scroll below to see what faced Kuchar when he returned to his golf ball on Monday morning, and click on the X / Twitter thread to see how PGA Tour fans have been reacting to the TIO in question...
Here's where Kuchar got to drop his ball...
Xander Schauffele received an even fortuitous break for a TIO earlier this season at the Wells Fargo Championship.
Schauffele's ball was pretty much dead and buried on a short par-4 but he was able to gain line of sight for a TIO as there was a ShotLink tower in front of him.
In a similar argument to Kuchar above, there was little to no chance of ever hitting the ShotLink tower had he taken the shot on.
Schauffele could barely take a swipe at the ball given the position he faced himself in.
The ruling ruffled plenty of feathers with golf fans, and many considered it was one of the luckiest breaks of all time on the PGA Tour.
Schauffele took free line of sight relief away from the TIO and he walked away with a par.
On another day without the assistance of a TIO, it could have been a bogey or worse for him.
See for yourself here...
While the rules are the rules, a number of golf fans are not buying some of the latest examples of line of sight relief for a TIO.
No doubt the frustration is further fuelled since amateurs can rarely call for a TIO of their own!
Andy first joined the brand on a month's work experience back in April 2011, and he now assumes the Editor role. When Andy joined GolfMagic it was a small site with potential.
