Paul McGinley said it was "staggering" that Brooks Koepka and his caddie denied giving advice to Gary Woodland and his caddie on the 15th hole at the Masters on Thursday.
After Kopeka, Masters joint leader on seven-under going into Friday's second round, took his second shot at the 15th, Ricky Elliott - the Portrush man on Koepka's bag - appeared to twice mouth "five" towards Gary Woodland's caddie Brendan Little. Koepka birdied the hole, as did Woodland who finished on four-under.
Under the rules, players cannot give to another competitor or seek it from anyone other than their own caddie. There is a two-stroke penalty for violating the rule.
"We looked at it when we got back in," Koekpa said after the round.
"GW (Gary Woodland) and Butchie (Brendan Littlie) had no idea what we were hitting; they didn't even know because... I know that fact because GW asked me what we hit walking off, when we were walking down. So that's all I can give you."
In a statement, the Masters' competition committee said, "Following the completion of Brooks Koepka's round, the Committee questioned his caddie and others in the group about a possible incident on No. 15. All involved were adamant that no advice was given or requested. Consequently, the Committee determined that there was no breach of the Rules."
Brooks Koepka caddie incident at the Masters
Should Brooks have called a penalty on himself?pic.twitter.com/K97x2ezCas
— Frank Power (@Powergolffit) April 7, 2023
"It’s staggering that they’ve denied it because the video evidence is there," McGinley told the Golf Channel.
"I know Ricky (Elliott) very well. He is a smashing guy.
"This is common practice on tour. Whether you like it or not, it happens in every professional tournament around the world. It's not always so blatant.
"Players and caddies, who always adhere to the rules and know how important the rules are... This is not considered a serious breach among the players. As long as I’ve been on tour, that's what it is.
"If the authorities want to stamp this out and really come down on this and make an example of it and obviously they haven't. They've chosen not to do that and it looked very clearly the evidence was against them.
"But you know if that's the case, I think a lot of players in the field, if they are putting their hand on hearts, there would be a lot of penalties out there today with what went on and other groups as well. We just happened to see it on camera."
Also on the Golf Channel, Brandel Chamblee said Koepka calling a penalty on himself would have been the "right thing to do".
"Todd (Lewis) raises a good point that it happens all the time that caddies signal the commentator what they're hitting," said Chamblee.
"They do in general with hand signals. It looked to me like Ricky Elliott was clearly looking at Brendan Little when he said 'five'. It was very obvious that he said 'five'.
"It is frowned upon, it is giving advice. The rules are there to protect the integrity of the competition. Gary Woodland hit a beautiful shot in there, really close to the hole after that. He made an easy birdie.
"Let's fast-forward to Sunday and he beats Sam Burns by one, and Sam Burns wasn't in that group. Let's just say that Gary Woodland was between clubs but because his caddie knew clearly what Brooks Koepka had hit, he knew clearly what club it was for Gary Woodland. I would imagine those two hit it pretty similar distances. Maybe he was thinking seven but he chose a six iron because he was a little bit in front of him - maybe he would have hit it in the water, we just don't know.
"To see something like that, so obviously in violation of the rules... I can't imagine why Brooks Koepka wouldn't have seen that and gone... I'm not saying Brooks Koepka says it's OK, but once having seen it, knowing that a caddie is the extension of a player, you'd have to go. 'That's on me. That's my bad. I've got to take two shots'.
"That's what the rule says. That's what clearly happened. That is the right thing to do."
See Also: McIlroy Explains Why He Did Masters' First Ever Walk And Talk Interview
