Tiger Woods left red-faced after making history by becoming first player to break major golf rule he helped create
TIGER WOODS was left red-faced after making history by becoming the first player to break a major golf rule he helped create.
The incident occurred as 15-time major winner Woods competed for Jupiter Links GC against TGL rivals Boston Common GC.
The battle at the SoFi Center in Florida saw Woods step up for an eight-foot putt during a critical moment.
However, the golf legend and fans were stunned as a loud buzzer went off.
Woods was yet to hit the ball before the noise was made.
Indeed, it was the sound from the course’s shot clock.
Players have just 40 seconds to get their shot away.
And because Woods failed to make contact before the alarm sounded, it saw him become the first player in history to be pulled up on it.
Boston Common’s players celebrated as Woods appeared exasperated.
And his day got even worse when he was handed an automatic one-stroke penalty.
The irony is that Woods was one of the stars who had campaigned for the introduction of a shot clock to help speed up games.
His penalty meant he was unable to match Rory McIlroy’s birdie, handing Boston a 2-1 lead.
Afterwards, Woods opened up over the unfortunate incident.
He said: “Normally I slow my heart rate down before I pull the trigger.
“So dropping my heart rate down sometimes takes a littler bit longer than others.
“As I told these guys, it’s on me. I should have called time out as I built in my stance because of the time.
“But I was dropping my heart rate down like I normally would. It just took too long.”
Despite his error, Woods’ Jupiter Links team ended up winning the match in a 4-3 thriller.
Kevin Kisner bagged the victorious shot for Woods’ side, with Adam Scott unable to match it for Boston on the final hole.