Masters: Tiger Woods could be disqualified for incorrect drop during second round

Tiger Woods could face disqualification from the Masters for an alleged illegal drop during his second round at Augusta.

World number one Woods saw his approach shot at the 15th hit the flag stick then spin back into the water, just as he was making a charge to the top of the leaderboard.

He decided against playing from the drop-zone and instead went back to where his original shot was played from, but decided to move two yards further back, from where he produced a stunning shot to make bogey.
However, rule 26-1 says that he should play his second attempt as near as possible from the spot of the first, and in Woods' own words he decided to move it two yards back.

"I went down to the drop area, that wasn't going to be a good spot, because obviously it's into the grain and it was a little bit wet," said Woods.

"I went back to where I played it from, but I went two yards further back and I took, tried to take two yards off the shot of what I felt I hit. I felt that that was going to be the right decision to take off four right there. And I did, it worked out perfectly."

It is Woods' own admission that he moved the ball further back that could be his undoing, as that could be deemed by officials to be a breach of the rules, and that would carry a two-shot penalty.

However, since Woods has already signed his scorecard, it would then get even worse as signing for an incorrect scorecard comes with the penalty of disqualification for the event.

While it would be a huge move from Masters officials to throw the world number one out of the event, David Howell told Masters Breakfast that Woods is right on the edge with his drop.

"He's exactly on the border, one more yard and Tiger's being disqualified, I don't think any of the officials would be able to give him that much leeway," said Howell.

"He's right on the limit. If he's done it deliberately because he preferred one more yard then he should be disqualified. If he just thought it was near enough then that's fine but only he knows really."

With reports of the incident growing Masters officials face a huge problem when they get back to Augusta on Saturday with the biggest name in golf under scrutiny.