2009 Masters Tournament - Controversies

Controversies

Rory McIlroy was involved in a controversial incident during the second round. In sixth place on the leaderboard with three holes left to play, McIlroy had double-bogeyed the 16th hole before hitting his approach shot into a bunker on the 18th hole. He failed with his first attempt to get the ball out of the bunker and kicked out at the sand, which is an offense because it is deemed to be testing the condition of the hazard. He finished his round at 4:15 p.m. local time and at 8:40 p.m. was called to the clubhouse to view footage of the incident. He was later cleared of any wrongdoing, as a player is allowed to smooth over the sand provided that it does nothing to improve the position of the ball with regard to the next shot.

Also during the second round, while putting for birdie on the 15th green, Pádraig Harrington had stepped up to his ball and addressed it, but a gust of wind caused him to step away. The ball then moved, but since he had grounded his club previously, he was deemed to have caused it to move and was penalized one stroke. He completed the hole with a par 5.