Bubba Watson probably would have played a little bit better in the final round of the PGA Championship on Sunday if he was able to call an exterminator.
At one point, Watson had the misfortune of watching his ball land directly on what looked like an ant hill. He consulted a PGA rules official to determine if he could take a free lift off of the insect mound, but Bubba was informed that the hill was classified as a “loose impediment” and not a burrowing animal.
“OK, but I have a question for you,” a seemingly annoyed Watson said. “Since the animal — it’s an animal, right? You agree with that? It’s burrowing and digging a hole. So how would it not be…? There’s either an ant bed or it’s an animal digging a hole. It’s either one or the other. Even though they dig in the ground they’re not considered burrowing?”
Watson then tried another angle before eventually accepting the ruling.
“So if some guy was allergic to ants and got an ant on him, you could care less?” he asked.
The rules official calmly explained that Watson would only have a case if his ball landed on a fire ant nest or some sort of other dangerous species of ant. There were obviously not actual insects coming out of this particular hole.
Bubba then joked that he had been bitten as he addressed his ball.
While people will likely point to Watson’s whiny reputation and the recent comments made by his caddie, you can’t blame him for trying to get relief. The rule book in golf giveth and taketh away.
Video via Golf Central on Twitter
