“It’s staggering that they’ve denied it because the evidence is there” — McGinley on caddie advice incident

Paul McGinley

Paul McGinley believes Augusta National missed a chance to make a statement and penalise players and caddies for giving advice after what looked like a blatant incident on the 15th hole.

Brooks Koepka's caddie Ricky Elliott appeared to mouth "five" twice in the direction of Gary Woodland's caddie Thomas Little after his player hit his approach but Masters officials investigated and declared no rules had been broken.

"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," James B. Hyler, Jr, Chairman of Competition Committees, said in a statement.

"All involved were adamant that no advice was given or requested. Consequently, the Committee determined that there was no breach of the Rules."

McGinley was taken aback by the outcome of the incident.

“It’s very obvious… it’s staggering that they’ve denied it because the evidence is there," McGinley said on Golf Channel. "This is common practice on tour. Whether you like it or not, it happens in every professional tournament around the world… This is not considered a serious breach among the players… as long as I’ve been on tour, this is what it is.”

McGinley added: "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."

Woodland shot a 68 but had either he or his caddy asked for the club, he would have incurred a two-shot penalty.

"I don't think there's a player in the field hand on heart who could say that they or their caddie at some stage hasn't either taken the hand off the club so the other player could see it or something," McGinley added.

"Whether you like it or not, I mean, I'm a stickler for the rules, and we're all sticklers for the rules. But it's just not seen as a serious breach."

McGinley was impressed by Viktor Hovland's opening 65 but wonders if he will continue to chip well when the weather deteriorates.

“He played really well at Sawgrass, played well at Bay Hill…he is trending toward a big performance in one of these big events," he said. "We all know his weaknesses but his chipping was pretty good today. The challenges for him will be when the weather conditions come in.

"When players are hitting 10 or 11 greens a round, are the scramblers going to come forefront? That’s obviously not one of his strengths and it’s going to become a big statistic.”

As for McIlroy's opening 72, McGinley believes it’s not too late for the Co Down man but he’ll need to step on the gar.

“He played poorly…looked edgy,” he said. “He never got into his stride. When he starts hitting it left, I always worry about Rory. He was all over the place. We need a far better Rory McIlroy over the next three days and a more focused Rory McIlroy if he’s going to be the Masters champion.”