19th Hole
The biggest rule controversies of 2020

2020 has been a year unlike any other, but some things just don’t change, and in the world of golf, that is rules controversies.
Despite a year that saw changes galore, the common fixture of rules mishaps remained prominent throughout 2020, and here we’ll highlight some of the biggest rules controversies that got golf fans talking.
Bryson’s Rant
Bryson DeChambeau was everywhere in 2020, so it’s no surprise he was involved in a rules dispute at the Memorial Tournament.
DeChambeau twice hit the ball OB on the 15th hole during round two but was adamant that one was not OB but rather underneath the fence. Rules official Slugger White stepped in to explain to DeChambeau why it was indeed OB, and it was a decision the golf scientist was clearly unhappy about, requesting a second opinion before saying “They are giving me a garbage ruling as usual.”
Bryson: “You are kidding me? Can I get a second ruling please?”
*Rules official turns away and smirks*pic.twitter.com/ZnaNk175ca
— Josh Berhow (@Josh_Berhow) July 17, 2020
The ruling was upheld and Bryson went on to make a 10 on the hole.
Mini-tour Chaos
While the PGA Tour was out of action, there was the Outlaw Tour for golf junkies to follow, and it was the home of a chaotic incident that saw 14 DQ’s.
Those 14 players were hit with DQ’s during round one after playing from the wrong set of tees on one hole – despite the 14-men playing from a distance longer than they should have.
Amid the controversy, tournament director Jesse Burghart released a statement on Facebook where he defiantly stuck by his decision to disqualify the 14 players – while also raising eyebrows with his ‘Sheriff Out‘ sign-off.
Caddie Costs Kid
At the U.S. Amateur at Bandon Dunes a rare and cruel ruling on the final hole put paid to Segundo Oliva Pinto’s chances in his last 16 match against Tyler Strafaci.
While all tied up on the final hole and assessing where to land his third shot, Oliva Pinto’s caddie, touched the sand with his hand which was deemed to have been testing the conditions of the bunker. The caddie denied it, but the evidence was clear…
…and the hole concession cost Pinto the match.
Antgate
At the 2020 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, Bryson DeChambeau found himself in the pine straw, where things got…interesting.
The 26-year-old called for an official and plead his case believing he was entitled to relief because there were fire ants and an animal hole near his ball. The conversation that followed between Bryson and the official was unsurprisingly a thing of beauty.
Guys Dechambeau tried to get a free drop because there was a fire ant hole next to his ball ???pic.twitter.com/vLvO91fBg4
— DailySportsDosage (@SportsDsd) July 31, 2020
He made his case, but it didn’t fly with the official, and no relief was given.
Lexi Escapes
At the Women’s British Open this year, Lexi Thompson avoided a penalty after seemingly trying to move away a tuft of grass from her ball using her club, something which didn’t sit well with golf fans on social media.
Literally just turned on the coverage of Women’s Open Championship to see this ?@mikeclaytongolf @GeoffShac @Rod_Morri pic.twitter.com/HQe4OFLh7T
— Rob Williamson (@Yeti2319) August 21, 2020
Why was no penalty assessed? Well, the R&A explained the following day that: “although the player had moved a growing natural object behind her ball, it had returned to its original position. Therefore, the lie of the ball was not improved and there was no breach of Rule 8.1.”
Pepperell’s Scorecard DQ
Eddie Pepperell made it DQ number two inside a four-month stretch, after signing for the correct overall score – 71 – but with certain holes scored incorrectly. The Englishman stated afterwards that his partner had marked him down for a five on one hole where he had taken six, and four on another when he had made three.
Not one to mince his words, Pepperell called his DQ “a fair distance away from common sense.”
The Great Wall of Dinah
At this year’s ANA Inspiration, a temporary fencing was placed behind the 18th green to replicate what players would see when the tournament was played typically with fans. Many fans questioned the decision at the time, and by Sunday evening ‘The Great Wall of Dinah’ had become one of the biggest controversies of 2020.
Players deliberately used the structure as a backstop throughout the event, and it was Mirim Lee who saw the benefits after smashing her second shot into the structure (which otherwise would have gone into the water) and chipped in from where the ball subsequently landed for eagle to earn a playoff spot.
Should the structure not have been there, Nelly Korda likely wins her first major. Instead, Korda suffered a heartbreaking defeat, and Lee was the one to take home her maiden major title, leaving many golf fans with a sour taste in their mouths.
What did we miss, GolfWRXers? Let us know in the comments.
19th Hole
‘Don’t think I’ll sleep well tonight’ – LPGA pro offers candid take following rough AIG Women’s Open finish

An opening round of 77 left LPGA pro Jenny Shin with a mountain to climb at last week’s AIG Women’s Open.
However, fighting back with rounds of 69 and 67, Shin found herself six shots off the lead and just outside the top 10 heading into Sunday as she went in search of her first major victory.
Shin, who won the US Girls’ Junior at just 13, couldn’t back those rounds up on Sunday, though, and after playing her opening nine holes of the final round in level par, she then bogeyed three holes coming home to slip down the leaderboard and eventually finish T23.
Taking to X following the final round, Shin offered a frustrated and honest take on how she was feeling, posting: “Don’t think I’ll sleep well tonight. What a crappy way to finish.”
Don’t think I’ll sleep well tonight. What a crappy way to finish
— Jenny Shin (@JennyShin_LPGA) August 3, 2025
Shin has made 11 cuts in 13 starts on the LPGA Tour this season, but has been plagued by frustrating Sunday finishes throughout the year. Shin ranks 102nd on tour this year out of 155 for Round 4 scoring in 2025.
Miyu Yamashita won the 2025 AIG Women’s Open with a composed final round of 70 to win her first major of her career by two strokes.
19th Hole
How a late golf ball change helped Cameron Young win for first time on PGA Tour

Cameron Young won the Wyndham Championship on Sunday for his first victory on the PGA Tour.
Young dominated all weekend at TPC Sedgefield, running away from the pack to win by six strokes and put himself in contention for a Ryder Cup pick in September.
Ahead of the event, the 28-year-old switched to a Pro V1x prototype golf ball for the first time, following recent testing sessions with the Titleist Golf Ball R&D team.
Interestingly, Young played a practice round accompanied by Fordie Pitts, Titleist’s Director of Tour Research & Validation, at TPC Schedule early last week with both his usual Pro V1 Left Dot ball and the new Pro V1x prototype.
Per Titleist, by the second hole Young was exclusively hitting shots with the Pro V1x prototype.
“We weren’t sure if he was going to test it this week, but as he was warming up, he asked to hit a couple on the range,” Pitts said. “He was then curious to see some shots out on the course. Performance-wise, he was hitting tight draws everywhere. His misses were staying more in play. He hit some, what he would call ‘11 o’clock shots,’ where again he’s taking a little something off it. He had great control there.”
According to Titleist, the main validation came on Tuesday on the seventh hole of his practice round. The par 3 that played between 184 and 225 yards during the tournament called for a 5-iron from Young, or so he thought. Believing there was “no way” he could get a 6-iron to the flag with his Left Dot, Young struck a 5-iron with the Pro V1x prototype and was stunned to see the ball land right by the hole.
“He then hits this 6-iron [with the Pro V1x prototype] absolutely dead at the flag, and it lands right next to the pin, ending up just past it,” Pitts said. “And his response was, ‘remarkable.’ He couldn’t believe that he got that club there.”
Following nine holes on Tuesday and a further nine on Wednesday, Young asked the Titleist team to put the ProV1x balls in his locker. The rest, as they say, is history.
19th Hole
Rickie Fowler makes equipment change to ‘something that’s a little easier on the body’

Rickie Fowler fired an opening round of one-under par on Thursday at the Wyndham Championship, as the Californian looks to make a FedEx Cup playoff push.
Fowler is currently 61st in the standings, so will need a strong couple of weeks to extend his season until the BMW Championship, where only the top 50 in the standings will tee it up.
Heading into the final stretch of the season, Fowler has made an equipment switch of note, changing into new iron shafts, as well as making a switch to his driver shaft.
The 36-year-old revealed this week that he has switched from his usual KBS Tour C-Taper 125-gram steel shafts to the graphite Aerotech SteelFiber 125cw shafts in his Cobra King Tour irons, a change he first put into play at last month’s Travelers Championship.
Speaking on the change to reporters this week, Fowler made note that the graphite shafts offer “something that’s a little easier on the body.”
“I mean, went to the week of Travelers, so been in for, I guess that’s a little over a month now. Something that’s a little easier on the body and seemed to get very similar numbers to where I was at. Yeah, it’s gone well so far.”
Fowler has also made a driver shaft change, switching out his Mitsubishi Diamana WB 73 TX for a UST Mamiya Lin-Q Proto V1 6 TX driver shaft in his Cobra DS-Adapt X, which he first implemented a couple of weeks ago at the John Deere Classic.
However, according to Fowler himself, the testing and potential changes are not done yet.
“Probably do some more testing in some different weight configurations with them once I get some time. Yeah, I feel like we’re always trying to search, one, to get better but are there ways to make things easier, whether that’s physically, mentally, whatever it may be. So yeah, I thought they were good enough to obviously put into play and looking forward to doing some more testing.”
Fowler gets his second round at TPC Sedgefield underway at 7.23 a.m ET on Friday.