Another week, another unfortunate ruling involving a tree.
This time it was a fate that befell Branden Grace and, by extension, his playing partner Garrick Higgo at the Zurich Classic on Saturday when Grace’s tee shot on the par-4 13th hole disappeared into a tree stump on the fly.
Though unlike Dylan Frittelli one week prior, Grace was able to salvage his par after taking an unplayable lie. He took a drop and hit his third shot to about 20 feet and drained the putt to avoid any damage.
As broadcaster Dottie Pepper noted in the moment, Grace was being judged harshly for hitting an impossibly small target.
“This is just plain old bad luck,” Pepper said. “You go to TopGolf, you might take dead aim on a little target like that. Light up the whole scoreboard.”
Grace and Higgo finished in a tie for fourth at 23-under-par, splitting a check for $383,875. The top-5 finish netted both players considerable bumps in the FedEx Cup rankings.
