07 April 2023 , 09:13
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Former Open winner Collin Morikawa was given the all clear after he was accused of cheating during his opening round at the Masters.
The American golf star was the subject of social media debate when television coverage showed a close-up of him marking his ball on the sixth green. Golf fans spotted him appearing to move the marker forward and then replacing his ball on the green.
A video of the incident which was posted on social media has been viewed over 3.7million times and caused a fierce debate on social media. Morikawa faced a two stroke penalty if he was found to have not replaced his ball to the exact spot where it finished.
However, the short clip didn't show that the ball had in fact rolled back when Morikawa originally went to play the shot and then former Open and PGA Championship winner was only moving the ball to where it ended up.
Morikawa also checked with playing partner Matt Fitzpatrick that he was happy with the placing of the ball and that he had followed the rules.
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Sky Sports commentator Paul McGinley confirmed that the incident had been looked at by Augusta officials and Morikawa was given the all clear.
A video of Collin Morikawa moving his ball sparked debate on social mediaTalking after hitting a three-under par round of 69 and four shots off the lead, Morikawa addressed the incident. He said: “Yeah, the ball moved and then I moved it back. Pretty standard now. Pretty routine in our rules book thankfully.”
After being told about a clip of the incident going viral on social media, he added: “Good. Bring that PIP up. Blow me up, guys.”
Not content with his original explanation, Morikawa also addressed the situation on Twitter. He posted a full video of the clip with the comment: "Here’s the full video…Ball moved as I addressed it, so I threw the coin down in no specific place, replaced the ball to the original spot and then moved my marker to the original spot (from where I threw it). I play by the rules, I promise."
Going into Friday's second round Viktor Hovland, Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm have a share of the lead on seven-under par.
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