Weeks after rescinding Denny McCarthy's caddie-alignment penalty, the PGA Tour went the other way by retroactively handing Adam Schenk two strokes Saturday morning for an infraction that occurred during the second round.
The Tour released a statement that said Schenk was given the penalty for having his caddie stand behind him as he took his stance in a bunker. Schenk never backed out of his stance before hitting his shot, therefore violating Rule 10.2b(4), a new guideline in 2019.
Here is a picture of the incident:
.@acschenk1 just hit w/ two-shot penalty, retroactively, for violating caddie alignment rule in yesterday's round, at the 17th hole. See the photo: pic.twitter.com/yZPKAioJHT
— Randall Mell (@RandallMellGC) March 2, 2019
The 27-year-old started his third round two shots behind the 6-under leaders, but the ruling turned his bogey on No. 17 into a triple-bogey and dropped him four strokes back.
Justin Thomas, who has been very vocal about the rule changes this season, took to Twitter to again voice his displeasure with the decision. He did the same when McCarthy was penalized in February.
My problem with the rule is that unless a caddie is clearly lining a player up (which is very obvious), I don’t see how there’s any benefit to it. Doesn’t make the game any better in my eyes. That being said, we know the rule and have to be careful to go by it
— Justin Thomas (@JustinThomas34) March 2, 2019
