An incident involving Brooks Koepka’s caddie Ricky Elliott led to suggestions of a rule breach during the first round of The Masters, which later saw him being questioned by The Masters Committee.
After the LIV Golf player’s second shot on the 15th at Augusta National, Elliott appeared to say the word “five” to playing partner Gary Woodland’s caddie, Brennan Little, potentially indicating the club Koepka had used. That led some to speculate that it could be construed as giving advice.
pic.twitter.com/lSG9H8pbkRApril 6, 2023
That was enough for the Committee to investigate further. However, it later released a statement explaining that it had determined there hadn’t been a rules breach. It read: “Following the completion of Brooks Koepka’s round, the Committee questioned his caddie and others in the group about a possible incident on No.15. All involved were adamant that no advice was given or requested. Consequently, the Committee determined that there was no breach of the Rules.”
After Koepka’s round, he was asked about the incident when talking to the media, and said: “We looked at it when we got back in. GW [Woodland] and Butchie [Little] had no idea what we were hitting; they didn't even know because - I know that fact because GW asked me what we hit walking off, when we were walking down. So that's all I can give you.”
That wasn’t the only matter of potential controversy during the opening round. A rules incident involving Collin Morikawa had set social media alight after he marked and replaced his ball on the 6th hole. However, like the issue with Elliott, Morikawa was later cleared of any breach of the rules,
Away from the confusion, Koepka made a mockery of the suggestion that LIV Golf players would be less sharp than their counterparts on other circuits as he followed Jon Rahm and Viktor Hovland to tie the lead on seven-under. However, the American thought it could have been even better. He said: “I think I missed a short one on 6, 8, 9, 10, so they were all kind of inside 10 feet. But could have been really low but I'll take it, 7's pretty good.”
In particular, Koepka finished strongly, and he admitted that had been particularly satisfying. He said: “Yeah, it was pretty good. Love to finish with two birdies like that. Just kind of hopefully ride that into tomorrow. You know, putting good, driving it well, just kind of build off all those things, and get myself, you know, in contention with nine to go on Sunday, that's the whole goal.”
Koepka already has four Majors to his name, but is yet to claim the Green Jacket. Away from the incident involving his caddie, his performance in the opening round suggested he could be a serious contender come Sunday evening.
