The Masters: Amateur apologises for urinating in Rae’s Creek

The young Spanish amateur who created headlines for urinating into Rae’s creek on his Masters debut has now apologised to Augusta National officials.

In a bizarre moment on Thursday, the US amateur champion Jose Luis Ballester chose to relieve himself in a tributary after hitting his third shot on the 13th hole.

Assuming he had cover with his back to the grandstand on the 14th tee, Ballester did his business in the stream down the left side of the fairway, not realising he had an audience watching him.

After his round, Ballester was asked if he was worried about being reprimanded by the green jackets, who may well have taken a dim view of such behaviour on the hallowed grounds.

“They saw me,” he said. “It was not embarrassing at all for me. If I had to do it again, I would do it again.”

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But after shooting a second round 78 to miss the cut by eight shots on Friday, Ballester appeared keen to move on from his very own ‘Watergate’ incident.

“Well, I already apologised to the club,” he said, “and I think we just move on from this moment.”

But what sort of reaction has Ballester had to his viral moment at Augusta?

“I try to stay away from social media,” he said. “A couple friends reached out just to say hey, you’ll be fine. I’m still your friend.

“So yeah, it’s good to have those friends that have your back when the news is not that good about you.”

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Aside from that most unusual episode, Ballester has taken a lot from his first ever Masters week.

“These guys are here especially because of how good they are around the greens, how much knowledge they have, how good they are at perceiving the slopes and reading greens,” he said after his invaluable 36 holes alongside Scottie Scheffler and Justin Thomas.

“I hit many good shots with drivers and irons both days, but what I felt that those guys are in a completely level from where I am is around the greens.

“It was not a great week for me in that aspect, but also looking forward to the next opportunities that I get to see how I compare myself with them.”

Ben Parsons is the Senior Writer at bunkered and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.