Corey Pavin shares the fourth spot at US Senior Open after a two-stroke penalty
Instead of celebrating the shared lead after round one of the US Senior Open, Corey Pavin had to settle for a shared fourth spot on the leaderboard, on Thursday, July 12, 2012.
Pavin started off his major title campaign on the back nine of the course and recorded four birdies against a bogey to go three-under for the round. Another birdie on the second hole allowed him to get close to the clubhouse leader Tom Kite.
At the fifth hole, he chipped his second shot prior to making a par putt. Thereafter, he managed to record another birdie on the eighth hole, followed by a par on the ninth to get the lead, shared with Kite.
However, he shared it only for few minutes, as he was shown a video of an infraction on the 14th hole (No. 5), which took his score from five-under to three-under because of a two-stroke penalty.
"The ball moved about a dimple or two is what happened," he said. "I thought it had moved and then come back to its position. That's what oscillate means. And it was obvious on the tape that it moved and didn't come back. So, once I saw it in slow motion,
I could see it, and it was obvious. It's a two-stroke penalty. That's the way it is".
Golf is a game of integrity, and that is what Pavin represented after he was told about the rule 18-2b application to his round. He wholeheartedly accepted the mistake and told that he was not discouraged by the reduction in his score.
"It doesn't change the way I played golf today," Pavin said. "Do I wish it didn't happen? Well, of course. I don't want to have a two-stroke penalty, but that's what happened, and that's the rule".
Meanwhile, Kite remained the sole leader at the end of the round. He registered a record breaking 28 on the front nine of the course, prior to finishing with a five-under par round-one score.
Bernhard Langer and Lance Ten Broeck were tied for the second position after carding a four-under par 66 each.
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