Football
Associated Press 17y

Boo-boo costs Weekley two strokes at Bay Hill

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Boo Weekley tried to spare his partner a
penalty. He wound up incurring one himself Saturday in a bizarre
act of sportsmanship-gone-bad at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

"I learned another rule in the game of golf," Weekley said
after his 67 turned into a 69.

Tom Johnson hit to the right side of the green on the par-3
second hole, some 85 feet away from the flag. Because of the steep
slope on the green and the back-left hole location, his best chance
was to chip off the putting surface onto the fringe and have the
ball trickle down toward the cup.

"I spaced out and forgot to tell my caddie to tend the pin,"
Johnson said. "I thought it was a great act of sportsmanship."

Johnson's chip came off perfectly, landing on the fringe and
rolling toward the flag. Weekley knew that if the ball struck the
pin while it was still in the hole, it would be a two-shot penalty
against him.

"I ran over and pulled the pin out," he said.

Someone in the gallery mentioned something to the rules
officials, who talked to Weekley and Johnson when they went into
the scoring trailer after the round to sign their cards. Weekley
played in the worst conditions Saturday, with strong wind and
temperatures in the 50s, yet played what Johnson called
"flawless" golf and took 67 shots, at the time the best score of
the third round.

"They asked me if I authorized Boo to pull the pin," Johnson
said quietly. "And I didn't."

It was the second time this month that Weekley has made news for
the wrong reason. He missed a 3-foot par putt at the Honda Classic
that would have given him his first PGA Tour victory, then lost the
next day in a four-man playoff.

Both times, he shrugged it off.

"He said to the rules officials, 'Thanks. I learned something.'
But it was painful for me," Johnson said. "I put my arm around
him and said, 'You handle adversity better than anyone I've ever
played with."'

Weekley was at 1-under 209 for the tournament.

"It would have been one thing if I was playing bad," Weekley
said. "But that's golf. I don't think nothing about it."

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