Jan 05, 2019: It didn’t take long for Dustin Johnson to realize his costly mistake.
Johnson became the first player on the PGA TOUR to be assessed a penalty since the new rules of golf were introduced to open 2019, although the problem was unrelated to the changes.
During the second round of the Sentry Tournament of Champions, the defending champion pulled his tee shot on the par-4 fourth hole into a native area.
A marshal on the course marked the area they believed the ball came to rest in the thick grass and Johnson promptly hacked it out.
As he walked further forward he saw another ball in the penalty area and sure enough, it was his.
As such Johnson was assessed a two-stroke penalty for hitting the wrong golf ball, leaving him with a double bogey six.
“Obviously it was my fault. The marshal had it marked, said it went in the hazard right there, and there was a ball right there and it was a TaylorMade. I could see the logo on the side, so I obviously just assumed it was mine,” Johnson said after signing for a 1-over 74 to sit five under and tied 12th.
“That won’t ever happen again. I can promise you that. It’s just bad luck.”
Source: PGA Tour
