19th Hole

Collin Morikawa hits out at referee over penalty after playing partner reported incident to rules official

Published

2 years ago

Dec 4, 2023

On Saturday’s third round of the Hero World Challenge, Collin Morikawa was hit with a two-stroke penalty for violating Model Local Rule G-11.

During the round, Morikawa’s caddie, Jonathan Jakovac, used a device on the practice green to calculate slope, which is permitted. However, the information was then added to his handwritten notes in the yardage book, which is illegal.

While speaking with Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis, Morikawa revealed that it was his playing partner and European Ryder Cup star Matt Fitzpatrick who reported Morikawa for the rule violation.

Morikawa said that he didn’t blame Fitzpatrick, but he was upset at how Chief Referee Stephen Cox handled the situation.

“To be honest, I was a little mad at Stephen,” said Morikawa. “He told us to meet him in the locker room. I was waiting in there for about five minutes, and he didn’t show up. This was midway through my warm-up. “If you’re going to tell me some news, I think you should show up on time and give it to me.”

While speaking with PGATour.com, Cox explained the decision.

“This is a very complicated issue. We respect the traditional methods of people wanting to have notes in their yardage book. That is something that’s been going on for many years. And obviously, when we drafted this Model Local Rule we wanted to protect that. Some players and caddie take more notes than others.”

“We were very specific in that these handwritten notes needed to be obtained through traditional methods to protect the fundamental skill of reading greens within our sport.

“If he had gone there using traditional methods and estimated with his feet or other means the percentages of slope on that practice putting green, 1%, 1.5% or 2% to gauge the amount of break on a particular length of putt, that chart or formula that the caddie has devised would be fine.”

“It comes down to use of this handwritten note. Because he used it for assessing the putt during his third round then he was assessed a two-stroke penalty.

“Fortunately, that is the only time the player or caddie has accessed that information, and, on that basis, the breach remained at two strokes.”

Speaking to reporters following the round, Fitzpatrick stated:

“Yeah. Listen, I was on the green, I heard Collin ask the question. J.J. gave him an answer from his yardage book. I just — you know, I have wanted to use AimPoint earlier this year. I spoke to my putting coach, Phil Kenyon, about it.

“He told me that he was pretty certain I can’t write the numbers down or use the AimPoint numbers. So, you know, I didn’t do it. And then obviously yesterday it happened and I asked Coxy [the rules official] just to clarify what the situation was.

“I asked the question and he was like, well, now you’ve asked the question, I need you to tell me what’s going on. That was it. Listen, it’s nothing personal. Whether it was Tiger or whoever, it’s just I wanted to know because I would have used it earlier this year.”

Morikawa finished seventh (-12) for the event.

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19th Hole

How much each player won at the 2026 Masters

Published

1 month ago

Apr 13, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

Rory McIlroy made it two wins in as many years at Augusta National, seeing off the challengers on a dramatic Sunday to slip on the green jacket once again. The victory earned Rory a whopping payday of $4.5 million, with Scottie Scheffler his closest challenger earning $2.43 million for his sole runner-up finish.

With a total prize purse of $22.5 million up for grabs, here’s a look at how much each player won at the 2026 Masters tournament.

For players that did not make the cut, they still earned $25k for their efforts at the year’s opening major.

1: Rory McIlroy, $4.5 million
2: Scottie Scheffler, $2.43 million
T3: Tyrrell Hatton, $1.08 million
T3: Russell Henley, $1.08 million
T3: Justin Rose, $1.08 million
T3: Cameron Young, $1.08 million
T7: Collin Morikawa, $725,625
T7: Sam Burns, $725,625
T9: Xander Schauffele, $630,00
T9: Max Homa, $630,00
11: Jake Knapp, $562,500
T12: Jordan Spieth, $427,500
T12: Brooks Koepka, $427,500
T12: Hideki Matsuyama, $427,500
T12: Patrick Reed, $427,500
T12: Patrick Cantlay, $427,500
T12: Jason Day, $427,500
T18: Viktor Hovland, $315,000
T18: Maverick McNealy, $315,000
T18: Matt Fitzpatrick, $315,000
T21: Keegan Bradley, $252,000
T21: Ludvig Aberg, $252,000
T21: Wyndham Clark, $252,000
T24: Matt McCarty, $182,083
T24: Adam Scott, $182,083
T24: Sam Stevens, $182,083
T24: Chris Gotterup, $182,083
T24: Michael Brennan, $182,083
T24: Brian Campbell, $182,083
T30: Alex Noren, $146,250
T30: Harris English, $146,250
T30: Shane Lowry, $146,250
T33: Gary Woodland, $121,500
T33: Dustin Johnson, $121,500
T33: Brian Harman, $121,500
T33: Tommy Fleetwood, $121,500
T33: Ben Griffin, $121,500
T38: Jon Rahm, $105,750
T38: Ryan Gerard, $101,250
T38: Haotong Li, $96,750
T41: Justin Thomas, $92,250
T41: Sepp Straka, $87,750
T41: Jacob Bridgeman, $83,250
T41: Kristoffer Reitan, $78,750
T41: Nick Taylor, $74,250
46: Sungjae Im, $69,750
47: Si Woo Kim, $65,250
48: Aaron Rai, $61,650
T49: Corey Conners, $57,600
T49: Marco Penge, $57,600
51: Kurt Kitayama, $55,250
52: Sergio Garcia, $54,000
53: Rasmus Hojgaard, $52,650
54: Charl Schwartzel, $51,300

19th Hole

CBS’s Sunday Masters coverage slammed by golf fans

Published

1 month ago

Apr 13, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

While Sunday was a dramatic day at the Masters, many golf fans were left feeling frustrated by the CBS final round coverage.

There were plenty of moments that golf fans took to social media to air their frustrations on Sunday over, including a lack of shots being shown throughout the day, being behind the live action, confusion over the approach shots of the final group on 18, and providing an angle for the winning putt where the cup couldn’t be seen.

Here’s a look at some of the criticisms that were directed at the CBS coverage throughout the day on X:

This has been a brutal broadcast for CBS. When the folks from Augusta sit down with them this year, you can bet they’ll talk about this 15 seconds where we have no idea where Rory’s ball went, and Dottie moans. #TheMasters pic.twitter.com/ak3mkpIN7V

— Ryan (@PossiblyRy) April 12, 2026

It’s rare criticism coming in for CBS, who are usually heavily praised for their Masters coverage each year.

19th Hole

The surprise club Tommy Fleetwood says is key to his Masters chances

Published

1 month ago

Apr 7, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

Tommy Fleetwood goes in search for the first major victory of his career again this week, with the Englishman proving to be a popular pick at Augusta National.

Fleetwood’s best showing at Augusta came back in 2024 where he finished T3, and while speaking at his pre-tournament press conference, the 35-year-old emphasized the importance of his 9-wood in his pursuit of the green jacket.

Speaking on Tuesday to media, Fleetwood said:

“It’s a great 9-wood golf course. I think it’s always been — I can’t remember when I first put like a 9-wood in or a high lofted club, but it’s a perfect like 9-wood golf course. I’ve had that in the bag for a few years.”

The Englishman continued, revealing that his strategy for the week won’t just be to hit driver off the tee as much as possible:

“Yeah, it’s funny really because I know Augusta is probably associated with being fairly forgiving off the tee in a way, so you think you can whale around driver a little bit. But I don’t necessarily think that’s always the play for me. I think there’s holes that set up really well where I can draw it with the mini driver if I’m feeling less comfortable with the driver and things like that.”

That strategy he believes will make his TaylorMade Qi10 9-wood extra critical this week in Georgia:

“The biggest thing is the 9-wood for me. If I can put myself in position on the par-5s or the 4th long par-3, like it — for me, I can’t really hit that high 4-iron, so 9-wood helps me a lot.”