This was one way to take relief. Day one at the 89th edition of the Masters promises to be remembered for the antics of the Spanish amateur José Luis Ballester, who urinated into Rae’s Creek from a ledge on Augusta National’s 13th hole. Yes, you have read that correctly.
Ballester was initially unapologetic about his actions. “If I had to do it again, I would do it again,” he claimed. Well, if you need to go, you need to go. Asked on Saturday if anyone from Augusta National had spoken to him about the incident, he said: “Well, I already apologised to the club and I think we just move on from this moment.”
The 21-year-old, playing alongside Scottie Scheffler and Justin Thomas, sprinted across the fairway after playing his third shot on the par-five hole on Friday. Amid incredible scenes, he earned an ovation from galleries after relieving himself into golf’s most iconic water stretch around 60 yards short of the 13th green.
“I completely forgot that we had those restrooms to the left of the tee box,” Ballester said. “I’m like, ‘I really need to pee.’ Didn’t really know where to go and since JT had an issue on the green, I’m like, I’m just going to sneak here in the river and probably people would not see me that much and then they clapped for me.
“[It was] probably one of the really loud claps that got today, so that was kind of funny.” Pressed on whether he was concerned about doing this all in front of an audience, Ballester added: “They [the crowd] saw me. They saw me. It was not embarrassing at all for me.”
Presumably it was yet to dawn on Ballester that Augusta National is likely to take a dim view of his public performance. Only a year ago, Australia’s Jason Day was scolded here for his choice of sweater. Earlier this week, a college coach was removed from the Masters range for wearing shorts.
The Green Jackets regard their ground as sacred and the club is yet to offer comment on the 13th hole episode. Ballester, the US amateur champion, is a student at Arizona State University. He opened his Masters debut with a four-over-par 76.
