Sam Burns Didn’t Get Free Relief From This Bizarre Spot in a Pot Bunker at Scottish Open

Burns’s shot somehow remained perched on the steep face of a bunker at The Renaissance Club, but he had to play it as it lied.

Sam Burns tried, but he ultimately failed to get a free drop when his ball somehow came to rest in a gravity-defying position at The Renaissance Club. 

During the third round of the Genesis Scottish Open, Burns found himself in one of the club’s treacherous pot bunkers, and rather than safely chipping out to the fairway, he attempted to blast an iron at the green. 

The gutsy shot didn’t pay off for the world No. 17, however, as his ball went directly into the face of the bunker, made an alarming thud, and promptly stopped on the steep lip. 

It appeared as though Burns’s ball had hopped out of its pitch mark, but somehow didn’t gather the momentum to roll back into the bunker as it typically should have. 

Burns called for a rules official, wondering whether he could receive a free drop from the precarious situation, as his swing would naturally interfere with the sturdy seam of the bunker face. But after more than 10 minutes of deliberation, officials determined that the ball was not imbedded in its pitch mark and therefore, it was in play. 

Watch the bizarre shot and rules situation unfold: 

An unusual ruling for Sam Burns as he is given no relief on this shot @ScottishOpen. pic.twitter.com/fLA9wF1GR8

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 15, 2023

After causing quite the back up on the par-5 10th, Burns ultimately took three shots to even escape the bunker and left the hole with a score that tarnished his nearly clean scorecard. Burns made a triple bogey 8 on the hole after carding an even par 35 on the front nine. 

Burns’s predicament at the Scottish Open reminded fans of Rory McIlroy’s ruling at this year’s U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club. Rules officials gave McIlroy a free drop from a bunker on the 14th hole of the final round of the major championship due to his ball being embedded in its pitch mark. It was later determined that McIlroy’s point of relief was incorrect.