{"id":61907,"date":"2026-09-05T21:23:22","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T21:23:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/61907\/"},"modified":"2026-09-05T21:23:22","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T21:23:22","slug":"did-viktor-hovland-make-3-3million-from-one-controversial-pga-tour-rules-verdict","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/61907\/","title":{"rendered":"Did Viktor Hovland make $3.3million from one controversial PGA Tour rules verdict?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The PGA Tour’s contentious decision not to penalise Viktor Hovland for an apparent infringement might have been worth over $3million.<\/p>\n

Hovland<\/a> looked to have touched the sand before playing a bunker shot on the 13th hole of the final round of last weekend’s Tour Championship<\/a> at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, where he finished second, banking $5m.<\/p>\n

\"Viktor<\/a><\/p>\n

2<\/p>\n

Hovland avoided a two-stroke penaltyCredit: GettyHovland off the hook<\/p>\n

However, the Norwegian was adjudged not to have committed any infringement.<\/p>\n

At the time, PGA Tour<\/a> rules official Mark Dusbabek explained: “We have received a couple of inquiries about this, but we’ve looked at [footage of the shot] and it does not appear to us that he has touched the sand, so [there] would not be a penalty in this case.”<\/p>\n

Had Hovland been found to have touched the sand, he would have incurred a two-stroke penalty.<\/p>\n

In that event, he would have finished tied fourth and pocketed around $3.3m less in prize money.<\/p>\n

READ MORE ON GOLF<\/p>\n

The decision not to penalise Hovland also, in effect, cost third-placed Ryan Gerard almost $1.3m.<\/p>\n

Hovland might have got away with one, then \u2013 and the same could be said for Wyndham Clark<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Clark accused<\/p>\n

Clark, who won his second US Open title this year, escaped punishment last month for allegedly improving his lie at the BMW Championship.<\/p>\n

The American ended up winning that tournament<\/a>, collecting $3.6m in doing so.<\/p>\n

But he came in under scrutiny from commentators after he repeatedly pressed down on the grass before a shot on the 14th hole of the final round \u2013 at which point he was tied for the lead with Rory McIlroy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Commentating, 2008 Masters champion Trevor Immelman observed: “He’s [Clark] taking a long look at this.<\/p>\n

\"Wyndham<\/a><\/p>\n

2<\/p>\n

Clark won the BMW Championship despite being accused of improving his lieCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

“This is like the third club he’s placed down behind the ball there.”<\/p>\n

Co-commentator Frank Nobilo then chipped in: “So the lie might be better.”<\/p>\n

What do the rules say?<\/p>\n

Under Rule \u00a08.1a of the USGA handbook, players are forbidden from improving their lie or stroke area.<\/p>\n

Bryson DeChambeau found that out the hard way<\/a> at The Open in July.<\/p>\n

That being said, there is an exception: players are allowed to lightly club the ground directly behind the ball – unless they are in the bunker.<\/p>\n

And Clark denied any wrongdoing, responding to claims of cheating<\/a> by saying: “I think any player, when they’re trying to judge a lie, takes out different clubs to see what it feels like.<\/p>\n

“I never fully put the club down behind it. I don’t think anything of it. When the cameras are on you, they’re going to find anything.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The PGA Tour’s contentious decision not to penalise Viktor Hovland for an apparent infringement might have been worth…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61908,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[1443,87,144,399,6197,2672,2035,424],"class_list":["post-61907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rory-mcilroy","tag-bmw-championship","tag-bryson-dechambeau","tag-pga-tour","tag-rory-mcilroy","tag-the-open","tag-tour-championship","tag-viktor-hovland","tag-wyndham-clark"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61907\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}