Tour pro lashes out at poor reporting of Justin Rose penalty: "Not even close"

Taylor Moore has taken to social media to set the record straight after Justin Rose was stung by a rare rules penalty. 

Despite being a touring professional for more than two decades the Englishman made an amateurish mistake during the first round of the new PGA Tour season at The Sentry. 

Rose hit Moore's golf ball by accident and was duly given a two-shot penalty for the infraction. 

Just to be clear Rose immediately knew his error and made it known to a rules official. Had he putted out with the wrong ball, he would have been disqualified. 

Moore saw an article about the moment and took issue with the headline: "A rare rules incident burned Justin Rose at the Sentry — as did miscommunication." 

As far as Moore was concerned, the wording wasn't great and it made him look like he was the type of player who 'doesn't communicate with my partners' or 'respect the unwritten rules of the game." 

He posted on X: "Have to clarify this as it paints me out to be someone who doesn't communicate with my playing partners or respect the "unwritten" rules of the game. I actually never switched balls. Only played 1s all day. Unfortunately this article isn't remotely close to what happened…" 

Moore continued: "I felt bad that Justin hit the wrong ball and ultimately said sorry which I think threw the announcers/coverage off. Rosey is the ultimate professional and handled the situation with class. All air has been cleared and excited for the final round of The Sentry tomorrow."

Have to clarify this as it paints me out to be someone who doesn’t communicate with my playing partners or respect the “unwritten” rules of the game.



I actually never switched balls. Only played 1s all day. Unfortunately this article isn’t remotely close to what happened… https://t.co/fEGrNCFR1G

— Taylor Moore (@taylormooregolf) January 7, 2024

I felt bad that Justin hit the wrong ball and ultimately said sorry which I think threw the announcers/coverage off. Rosey is the ultimate professional and handled the situation with class. All air has been cleared and excited for the final round of @TheSentry tomorrow

— Taylor Moore (@taylormooregolf) January 7, 2024

What happened?

The moment arrived during the opening round on the seventh hole of the Plantation Course. Rose struck a Titleist ProV1 with a '2' on it. 

It was initially reported Moore was playing the same ball that was also a number '2'. 

Golf Channel caught the exchange whereby Rose could be heard saying: "You've been playing a '2', though. That was a '2.'" 

Moore replied but it was not immediately clear what he said. 

The hot mics picked up Moore saying 'sorry' and 'wow' before they carried on. 

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