“Silly and complex”: Dylan Frittelli speaks out on rules incident

Dylan Frittelli was caught up in one of the most unusual incidents we’ve seen for a long time on tour.

Playing the final round of the RBC Heritage, his ball got stuck in some low-hanging branches.

Rather than taking a drop, Frittelli opted to punch it out using his driver, before going on to make what he thought was an extraordinary par.

Unfortunately he was then handed a two-shot penalty because he was adjudged to have straddled his line while making the shot.

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After his round, Frittelli was clearly still unhappy with the ruling, posting a number of comments on a post by the ZireGolf Instagram account where he branded the rules “silly and complex”.

Several users also pointed out that a rules official was watching Frittelli hit the shot and did not point out it was illegal.

Responding to one comment, he said: “He didn’t think it was a breach of rule until the perfect video from behind surfaced. It was such an absurd shot that was in the moment I guess I didn’t look like a rules infraction. But officials are not meant to interfere unless you ask them a question.”

But fellow tour pro Emiliano Grillo insisted they have been known to wade in.

“I’m not exactly sure if it’s his job or not, just going to say this as an example when you are going to take a drop they usually remind you about the knee height, if you drop shoulder height and hit the shot you’re penalized,” he said.

Frittelli also insisted his swing path was in line with his shoulder, implying he should not have been penalised.

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“If it went back more than 3 inches, it would track over my right shoulder,” Frittelli wrote, referring to his swing path. “With an open face. At what point are you ‘off the intended line’.

“Technically players are in breach when they open a wedge 70 degrees coz their face points back near their right foot.”

However, the South African was able to see the funny side, joking that he had used his “tree wood” for the unusual shot.