EDISON, N.J. – In the final analysis it didn’t make a difference, but for Jordan Spieth it added to an already heightened level of aggravation.
After hitting his second shot at the par-5 12th hole into a hazard short of the green, Spieth stepped on his golf ball while searching through the weeds.
He took a drop away from the hazard and made what he thought was a bogey-6. But on the next hole, a PGA Tour rules official approached him about the incident.
“My intentions were if I see it, I'm going to play it, and if I don't see it, I'm going to take my drop and play it as a water hazard,” said Spieth, who was informed after his round to add a stroke for violating Rule 18.