English golfer Eddie Pepperell made an abrupt exit from the European Tour’s Turkish Airlines Open on Saturday after hitting so many balls in the water on a single hole that he ran out.
Pepperell came to the tee of the par-5 fourth hole at even-par for the tournament, well out of contention and at the bottom of the leaderboard. Pepperell hit his second shot into a water hazard next to the green, then dropped a new ball and hit another into the water. Pepperell kept firing away, finding the water each time, until he informed his playing partners that he had run out of balls.
Pepperell could have borrowed a ball and taken a two-stroke penalty to be able to continue with the hole, but if he couldn’t produce the same type of ball on the tee of the next hole, he would have been disqualified anyway. Martin Kaymer, who was playing with Pepperell, said he wasn’t sure how many shots Pepperell hit into the water, and that earlier in the round he had chosen to putt with a wedge.
Via Golf Digest:
“Eddie hit his shots to the green, then came over to tell us he had run out of balls,” said a rather bemused Kaymer after completing his own round of 69. “Then he walked off. I thought he lost four or five. We are about 80 percent sure it was five, 20 percent four. He was quick, so it was hard to keep track. He did not ask if he could borrow one from me or George. It did not look like he wanted to play. He did not putt with his putter on the third hole; he putted with a wedge. So there was a lot happening.”
Phil Mickelson tweeted that he was surprised he’s never ran out of balls.
