During Los Angeles GC's 6-2 win over Boston Common on Tuesday night, a shot from Tommy Fleetwood was not accurately tracked by the super-sized TGL screen at SoFi Center - causing a moment of confusion for all involved.
Already 1-0 up from the first hole of triples, LA's third man to go was preparing to flight a short-iron into the screen from 167 yards out after Justin Rose and Collin Morikawa had taken down much of the 582-yard, par-5 second.
Yet, when the Englishman blasted his golf ball towards the target, nothing happened for a second. Shortly after, Fleetwood's ball showed as having trickled along the ground as if one of the purest strikers had topped it.
He was confused. Rory McIlroy was confused. "What just happened?" exclaimed the Northern Irishman a few seconds later. Morikawa joked that it had actually gone in the hole while Rose quipped that Fleetwood had hit it "too flush."
A message which said 'Invalid Reading' eventually popped up on the screen and Fleetwood was asked to hit again.
1st ever mulligan in TGL. "invalid reading"Fleetwood's reaction was priceless 😄 pic.twitter.com/9VH3UljXdCFebruary 5, 2025
TGL has been prepared for this kind of moment to potentially occur, with the relevant segment in its rulebook stating: "The referee or booth official shall have the ability to deem a shot during screenplay an “inaccurate computation” at their discretion to maintain the integrity of the match and facilitate the competition.
"They will also have the authority to deem a “re-hit.” Scenarios where this may occur include, but are not limited to, the following: + Shot not captured – If a ball is struck and the competition technology fails to capture it, then the referee or booth official shall invoke a re-hit.
"The attempted shot is not counted towards the player’s total shots attempted. The only exception is when both the referee and booth official decide the ball was in fact mishit (commonly referred to as a “shank”). Then the shot will count, and the next player will hit from the previous position.
"+ Inaccurate competition technology reading – If a ball is struck and the competition technology produces an output that is clearly and obviously incorrect, then the referee or booth official shall invoke a re-hit. The attempted shot is not counted, and the ball is reset to its previous resting position."
Given the obvious error, Fleetwood took a second swipe at the ball and watched on as it sailed to the left of the green and ended in the bunker. The 34-year-old shot another quizzical look at the technology before shuffling away.
As it turned out, Fleetwood's involvement was still enough for LA to take victory on that hole, with the team in black going 3-0 ahead after three holes and 4-0 up after five.
On a night where The Hammer was not thrown by either team, LA took a 5-0 lead at the ninth hole before Boston Common finally secured their first point through Adam Scott on the third hole of singles matches.
Morikawa gained immediate revenge to make it 6-1, and Keegan Bradley claimed the contest's final point on the 15th against Rose.
Rory McIlroy, who responded to comments by Charley Hoffman about a number of issues facing the PGA Tour earlier this week, failed to secure a point on the night.
