Pro’s whiff stuns analysts, and rules examined

Keita Nakajima? He dropped his iron on his follow-through, then looked toward his left, then his right. 

And the announcers watching him? 

They were similarly stunned. 

Said analyst Alison Whitaker: “What happened there?”

Said analyst Tony Johnstone: “Goodness me.”  

All after a cough. 

Golf can often be funky like that. What happened Thursday during the first round of the DP World Tour’s FedEx Open de France was, in a word, different, and the rules were examined. 

The scene unfolded as Nakajima stood over his second shot, from 147 yards away, on the par-4 15th hole at Golf de Saint-Nom-La-Bretèche in Paris. At that point, those watching on the Golf Channel broadcast could hear a faint sneeze in the background. All remained calm, though, and Nakajima started his swing. Then came the cough. It appeared to come at the top of Nakajima’s backswing. In response, he wildly swung over the ball, missing it entirely, before dropping his club and looking around for a culprit. 

On the broadcast, two replays were shown. 

Said analyst Mark Roe: “Something distracted him. … It wasn’t like something flew down his neck, a wasp or something. I mean, what was that?” 

Said Johnstone: “There’s got to be an attempt to hit the ball. Did he have intent to hit the ball? Because he sort of pulled out of it, way above the ball. I don’t know. That could be one for the referees.”

Shortly thereafter, Nakajima composed himself and hit his ball into the left greenside bunker. But what was the ruling? Was the whiff a stroke? Or not?

On the broadcast, Whitaker reported those on the broadcast had been told no stroke. “Hearing there is no penalty for Nakajima. They didn’t deem it to be a swing, a full attempt at that second shot.” The DP World Tour’s online leaderboard also showed this; it displayed that Nakajima carded a five on the hole via a tee shot, the second shot into the greenside bunker, a third shot out of the bunker and two shots from there. 

Then, the DP World Tour’s social media team shared a post that read: “The official ruling of Nakajima’s mishit.” It showed the rules definition of ‘stroke,’ and that reads as follows:

“The forward movement of the club made to strike the ball.

“But a stroke has not been made if the player:

“- Decides during the downswing not to strike the ball and avoids doing so by deliberately stopping the clubhead before it reaches the ball or, if unable to stop, by deliberately missing the ball;

“- Accidentally strikes the ball when making a practice swing or while preparing to make a stroke.

“When the Rules refer to ‘playing a ball,’ it means the same as making a stroke.

“The player’s score for a hole or a round is described as a number of ‘strokes’ or ‘strokes taken,’ which means both all strokes made and any penalty strokes.”