Scottie Scheffler made his return at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and, following rounds of 67 and 70, the World No.1 is seven back going into the weekend.
However, it was Scheffler's final hole on Friday that caught the attention of viewers, as the American made an unorthodox par from the beach at Pebble Beach Golf Links.
Playing the par 5 18th, a hole that runs around the Pacific Ocean, Scheffler pulled his tee shot left and, after a lengthy discussion with a rules official, found it resting on the sand next to the water.
Luckily for Scheffler, the ball was playable and, after navigating the second shot back to the fairway, he was able to make par and sign off for a two-under-par round of 70.
Following on from the drama, the 28-year-old explained what happened at the final hole, stating: "I pulled it pretty bad off the tee. The way it looked like it landed, I didn't see it hit any rocks, didn't see it splashing.
"You can kind of see some sand over there, so our conversation on the tee box was like am I allowed to hit a provisional, because I don't want to walk like 300 yards up there and then have to turn around and walk back and hit the tee shot again.
"(I) Found a rules official. He told me that it crossed up there by the tee box and I was like, thank you very much, I'm aware where it crossed. Then I was like am I allowed to hit a provisional? He's like not for a ball in the hazard. I'm like okay, then can we go up there and look? He's like yeah, and if we don't find it I'll bring you back. Saw a ball on the beach, went down there, found my ball, moved some rocks, hit it out, hit it on the green, two-putted."
Thankfully, the shot from the beach didn't harm the World No.1, who is returning to competitive action after surgery on his hand to remove fragments of glass.
"I think like the last two days out here I haven't felt at peak performance at all," explained Scheffler, who added "I think if you look at my strokes gained ball-striking numbers, they're probably not near what they would normally be and I think that's just a little bit of competitive rust, kind of getting my feet back under me and playing tournament golf.
"To only have two bogeys, one of them being with a semi shank, it's pretty good. My first hole of the tournament and then just a little rust, brain fart type thing. Other than that, I did a good job keeping my focus, keeping the golf course in front of me."
