PGA Tour
Beau Hossler made an absurd TIO rules request on the final hole at the Sanderson Farms, and he was denied
Beau Hossler deserves a ton of credit for getting up and down for par from 130 yards out on the 72nd hole to force a playoff at the Sanderson Farms Championship in Mississippi on Sunday. He also deserves a bit of criticism for the move he tried to pull right before hitting his second shot back into the fairway.
Hossler, who birdied the 17th to tie for the lead at the Country Club of Jackson, badly pulled his tee shot at the 18th and his ball came to rest in some pinestraw directly behind a tree, otherwise known as jail. All Hossler had was a pitch out back to the fairway, unless he got really creative.
And by really creative, we mean really creative with the rules. Hossler called over an official and asked for Temporary Immovable Obstruction (TIO) relief, arguing that he could play a shot left of the tree, which would bring into play the grandstands and the scoreboard down the left side of the hole. For that to even be an option for Hossler, it would have to be assumed he was going to play one of, if not the, greatest slice shots in the history of the sport. The rules official was not having it.
"Don’t I get relief if that’s between me and the pin, the grandstand and that scoreboard?" Hossler asked. The official explained that relief would be an option in this situation if the TIO is located on a straight line between the player's ball and the hole.
"What if I told you I’m hitting this right at the pin?" said Hossler. "I’m hitting this right at the pin. What if that tree is 20 yards in front of me, then could I go at it? Can you explain the rules to me?”
As James Colgan at Golf.com mentioned in his tweet, Hossler asked for a second opinion and that rules official also denied his request for TIO relief.
In fairness to Hossler, the 29-year-old is still in search of his first PGA Tour win, and he certainly wouldn't be the first player to try to use the rules to his advantage in pursuit of that. After being denied twice, he eventually punched out and made a remarkable par save to force a playoff with Kevin Yu. Yu made birdie on the first playoff hole for his first tour win. Hossler has now lost twice in playoffs, the last defeat coming at the 2018 Houston Open against Ian Poulter.
Hossler still took some positives from the week, but was clearly not thrilled with how it all ended afterward.
"Really nice to be nervous. Nice to hit good shots when you're nervous," he said. "You know, like I said, I'm a little disappointed with the outcome. I'm a little salty right now. All in, a lot of really good stuff this week."
