Charley Hoffman gets bunker lining ruling

There was another peculiar rules situation in the final round of the RBC Canadian Open as Charley Hoffman got relief from a badly buried lie.

On the 12th hole, the American found the greenside bunker and, with them having a newly installed bunker lining, it prevented him digging in enough to get a good stance to take his shot.

His caddie urged him to call in a rules official who, after initially being reluctant to give Hoffman relief, was convinced that he couldn’t take his stance because of the lining.

Playing partner Kevin Chappell seemed somewhat unimpressed. “That’s so generous,” he could be heard saying sarcastically.

The ruling bears similarities with an incident involving Branden Grace at the BMW PGA Championship in May, where he also got relief due to being unable to get a proper stance because of a bunker lining.

And, like the Grace ruling, viewers didn’t like what they saw.

Hoffman bogeyed the hole and ended up in a play-off to win the tournament with defending champion Jhonattan Vegas, but the Venezuelan birdied the first hole to make it back-to-back wins.