On Sunday at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, Collin Morikawa was hit with a two-stroke penalty for violating Model Local Rule G-11, which limits the use of green-reading materials. The infraction took place on the fourth hole during the third round and led to a triple bogey-7. The violation occurred when Morikawa’s caddie, J.J. Jakovac, used a level on the practice putting green before the third round to create a “putting system.”
The Tour’s chief referee Stephen Cox explained that although using a level is not a breach of the rule, Jakovac developed a handwritten chart or formula in Morikawa’s yardage book, which is where the violation happened. This led to Morikawa being penalized two shots.
Cox clarified that the fourth hole was the only time Morikawa and Jakovac used the formula during the round. Shortly before his final-round tee time at Albany, Morikawa was informed of the penalty by Cox, leaving him understandably frustrated.
This incident was brought to Cox’s attention by Matt Fitzpatrick, who was paired with Morikawa in the third round. Fitzpatrick didn’t ask about it immediately after the round and only inquired later to clarify the situation.
The rule was implemented in 2022 to protect the fundamental skill of reading greens and prevent the use of non-traditional green-reading materials. Cox emphasized that the use of hand-written notes to formulate a putting chart should be done through traditional methods as opposed to using tools like levels on the practice putting greens. Despite the frustration and confusion surrounding the penalty, Cox emphasized that this is not the first time a Tour player has been penalized for using illegal green-reading materials.
