Did Collin Morikawa just cheat?
That was a question on the mind of many during Thursday's opening round of the 2023 Masters Tournament following an eyebrow-raising moment at Augusta National.
In a video clip that went viral on social media, Morikawa was seen placing his ball in a different location than his marker on the sixth hole green. The 26-year-old then moved the marker to where he moved the ball, picked up the ball and placed it back down in the marker's new spot.
"Did you see what I saw there with the mark?" one TV broadcaster asked.
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"I'm not sure what I really saw," another replied.
In addition to confusing the broadcasters, Morikawa also left many on social media thinking he might have broken the rules.
However, an extended version of the incident shows Morikawa first approaching the ball for his putt before backing away. He then appears to say something to playing partner Matt Fitzpatrick before bending down to move the ball.
In a quote-tweet of the extended clip, Morikawa clarified that the ball had actually moved before he played it, adding that its original spot wasn't where the marker first appeared in the viral clip.
"Ball moved as I addressed it, so I threw the coin down in no specific place, replaced the ball to the original spot and then moved my marker to the original spot (from where I threw it)," he wrote. "I play by the rules, I promise."
Morikawa didn't even realize the moment created a controversy until after he finished the round, and the two-time major champion had a rather hilarious reaction to it.
Morikawa wasn't deemed to have violated any rules, as a ball that moves before being played is actually required to be placed in its original spot.
Coming off a fifth-place finish in last year's Masters, Morikawa posted a 3-under 69 in Round 1. That score tied him with Justin Rose, Tony Finau and Jordan Spieth for 13th on the leaderboard.
