Masters star Jose Ballester has risked being punished by the Augusta officials by urinating into Rae’s Creek during his first round on Thursday. The Spanish golfer was cheered on from the gallery when he sprinted to the water on the 13th hole and relieved himself.
The amateur, who was playing alongside reigning champion and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, shot a four-over 76 after a brief break on the iconic par five between shots. After hitting his third shot, Ballester thought he had cover from the grandstand and did his business before returning to the group.
His efforts were not as clandestine as he previously thought, however, with fans chanting his name after catching on to why Ballester had fallen behind his trio.
He pled ignorance while back in the clubhouse, claiming that he forgot that a restroom next to the nearby tee box, saying: “Well, I completely forgot that we had those restrooms to the left of the tee box, I’m like: ‘I really need to pee’. I didn’t really know where to go…
“And since JT (Justin Thomas) had an issue on the green, I’m like, I’m just going to sneak here in the river and probably people would not see me that much, and then they clapped for me. Probably one of the claps that I really got today real loud, so that was kind of funny.”
When asked if he was worried about being cautioned, the 21-year-old replied: “They saw me. It was not embarrassing at all for me. If I had to do it again, I would do it again.”
The US Amateur champion was playing at Augusta for the first time and it remains to be seen whether or not the tournament’s officials will take any action.
There is little precedent set for any verdict, but last year on the Korn Ferry Tour, the PGA Tour’s feeder league, golfers were punished financially for similar incidents.
Michael Kim claimed: “There was a lady that got mad that players were taking a leak on a tree next to her house and players got fined for that.”
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