Romero lost in Amen Corner

The rising Argentine star Andres Romero finished the Masters in the top 10, but not before a shot on No. 11 that would have made a high-handicapper wince. His second shot on the par 4 went way, way, way left, over the trees and over the leaderboard and out of view of the thousands of spectators around Amen Corner.

“There was some mud on my ball, and after I hit it I knew it was going left,” Andres said. “It landed in the bushes.”

“I’m probably the first player to ever hit it there,” he added, laughing.

Play was held up for more than 10 minutes after the shot. First, Romero went to find the ball, and then he asked a rules official where he could drop it if he took an unplayable lie. Fans were left to stare at the densely packed trees and wonder, “Where’s Romero?”

The spot the rules official gave him was not agreeable to Romero, so he decided to take the penalty stroke and go back to his original spot and re-hit. The whole time his playing partner, Padraig Harrington, was standing over a greenside chip shot, alternatively making practice swings and walking over to check the green.

The wait was so long that the official had a cart ready to take Romero back to the spot of his original shot and then to the green after he hit. After all that, he made triple-bogey 7, but still managed to stay in the top 10. (He finished eighth.)

Harrington wasn't so lucky. He couldn't get up-and-down and made bogey as well. He said he felt pressure to make up the lost time.

"I rushed my tee shot on 13 and hit it in the bushes, and then I definitely rushed my pitch shot on 14 because we were trying to make back up our time, to keep in position," Harrington said. "You know, these things you have to deal with, and that's part of golf. It's something I have to watch out for, that I don't hit the shot before I'm ready."

(Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

Comments

[Gerardo Biritos]

Do we surprise about Romero's experience? What about when Tiger did shoot it over the building on the right, the ball bounced supposedly over the roof and was "found" in the parking lot...brought back to some place with a great view to the green and from there (I wonder who established the place where to hit) Tiger shot it to the green.
Nobody complaint. Romero is an unknown South American. He comes from a very humble origin in Northern Argentina. It was his first Master.
Finished eighth.
Was it so surprising or odd his conduct as to affect Padraig's game' We all know Padraig's unfair conducts on the course...
It all the depends, after all, of the color of the glass we see through. Discrimination, I'm afraid, is what we are used to see in the case of many of these unknown rookies from far away...
Very sad, indeed. Where is the true spirit of the game...