BREAKING: Lee Hodges penalized with one-stroke penalty at the 2023 PGA Championship

PGA Tour pro Lee Hodges was handed a one-stroke penalty due to a violation of the 10-second rule at the 2023 PGA Championship. It happened during round 3 when Lee waited for more than 10 seconds to putt the ball to drop into the par-4 17th.

Rule 13.3a states that a golfer cannot wait more than 10 seconds to putt the ball if it stops at the edge of the hole.

The NUCLR GOLF Twitter handle shared the video of Hodges's unlucky stroke:

Lee Hodges hit a stroke on the par-4 17th hole, and the ball stopped at the lip of the hole. He stood there waiting for the ball to drop for 30 seconds.

His playing partner, Jordan Speith, was heard saying:

"I think it's [ball] going to drop."

Lee Hodges already had a par on his scorecard. But later on, after 34 seconds, the ball did drop into the par-4 17th hole. Since he waited longer than what the rule allows, he was handed a bogey-five and a stroke penalty.

At the time of writing this, Corey Conners and Viktor Hovland are leading the table and are followed by Scottie Scheffler at number 3 and Bryson DeChambeau at number 4 on the leaderboard.

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What does rule 13.3a state that handed Lee Hodges a penalty stroke?

2023 PGA Championship - Round One

According to USGA's rule 13.3a:

"If any part of a player’s ball overhangs the lip of the hole: The player is allowed a reasonable time to reach the hole and 10 more seconds to wait to see whether the ball will fall into the hole."

If in the given time slab (10 seconds) the ball drops into the hole, then the player is holed out. But if the ball does not drop into the hole and the golfer waits for the ball to drop in for more than 10 seconds, then he is handed a one-penalty stroke.

Well, according to the rules, Lee Hodges was rightly penalized at the 2023 PGA Championship. But according to fans, this should not have been penalized as the ball was already in motion, especially when another golfer [Jordan Speith] pointed it out.