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Fowler hits shank O.B., drops from shoulder height, penalized

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(After violation the knee-height drop rule) “With the new rules that have been put in place, it’s not doing any favors for our sport. I get why they went to knee [height]. I don’t understand why there can’t be an area maybe, whether it’s waist to knee, or leave shoulder in there if you take away the extra area of relief that was always there.”

MEXICO CITY – It was an eventful start for Rickie Fowler on Friday at the WGC-Mexico Championship.

Fowler began his day on the 10th hole and things started to go wrong quickly when he hit his approach shot into the par 4 well right and out of bounds. While taking his drop, Fowler dropped from shoulder-height, which is not allowed under the new rules introduced this year that require knee-height drops.


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According to the PGA Tour, Fowler realized his mistake after playing his fourth shot and informed a rules official on the hole. He was penalized one stroke for “Improper procedure of drop,” Rule 14.3b.

Fowler made a triple bogey-7 on the hole.

Under the new rule, players who take an incorrect drop can correct their mistake as long as they’ve not played the shot.