SI

Tiger Woods Hits Flag On 15 at Augusta Again, 10 Years After Controversial Masters Drop

Woods hit a shot on the 15th hole that was eerily similar to one that caused controversy exactly 10 years ago.

Gabrielle Herzig

Tiger Woods Hits Flag On 15 at Augusta Again, 10 Years After Controversial Masters Drop
Tiger Woods Hits Flag On 15 at Augusta Again, 10 Years After Controversial Masters Drop /

Finishing his second round of the 2023 Masters on Friday morning, Tiger Woods experienced a flash of history repeating itself. 

Woods, who stood at 2 over par prior to teeing off on the 15th hole, took dead aim at the pin on 15 with a wedge in his hand. The shot hit the signature yellow Augusta National flag on the fly, dropped to the putting surface and dramatically spun back a few feet. 

For a second, the ball looked as if it might have enough speed to catch the downslope and head for the water. 

“Oh, he’s done it again!,” Jim Nantz called on the broadcast. “Ten years ago, it happened on this very hole with his third shot. Crashed into the flagstick, and that time it ricocheted all the way back into the water.”

Woods’s shot was eerily similar to a wedge he hit 10 years ago at the 2013 Masters that led to one of the most bizarre penalties in the tournament’s history. 

No one noticed it at the time, but Woods took an improper drop in the fairway after his water ball. He played the shot two yards back from where he hit his original shot, rather than dropping “as close as possible to the spot where he played the original shot.”

A TV viewer—David Eger, a well-respected rules official—called in the violation from home. Many in the golf community thought Woods might be disqualified from the tournament for the rules breach, but instead, he received a two-shot penalty. 

On Saturday, Woods avoided disaster and his ball stayed on the putting surface. The 15-time major champion then made the putt for birdie, putting him one shot inside the 36-hole cut line of two over par. 

Published
Gabrielle Herzig
GABRIELLE HERZIG

Gabrielle Herzig is a Breaking and Trending News writer for Sports Illustrated Golf. Previously, she worked as a Golf Digest Contributing Editor, an NBC Sports Digital Editorial Intern, and a Production Runner for FOX Sports at the site of the 2018 U.S. Open. Gabrielle graduated as a Politics Major from Pomona College in Claremont, California, where she was a four-year member and senior-year captain of the Pomona-Pitzer women’s golf team. In her junior year, Gabrielle studied abroad in Scotland for three months, where she explored the Home of Golf by joining the Edinburgh University Golf Club.

Home/Golf