Dustin Johnson's caddie, and little brother, wades into water to retrieve ball
Friday 13 May 2016 21:28, UK
Dustin Johnson had his little brother to thank for avoiding a two-shot penalty after a bizarre incident on the fourth hole at TPC Sawgrass.
Johnson slipped to five under for The Players Championship on day two after a bogey-six at the second, and he found the green safely a the fourth before causing himself a big problem after marking his ball.
He intended to toss his ball to caddie and younger brother Austin, but it slipped out of his hand on his backswing and landed in the stream that guards the left side of the green.
The rules of golf state that you have to complete a hole with the same ball you started it with, so Dustin would have been hit with a two-shot penalty if he was unable to locate the sunken sphere.
But Austin, who was wearing a protective cast on his right hand, had no hesitation in jumping into the water - shoes and all - to retrieve the ball, and Dustin went on to par the hole before completing a second straight 70.
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"Dustin went to throw it to me, and as he took his hand back, it slipped out of his hand and just kind of bounced into the water," said Austin, who also explained why he did not remove his shoes before jumping in.
"I looked down in the water and there were a lot of sharp shells and sticks and all kinds of stuff, and I didn't want to cut my foot. I can caddie with wet feet, I can't caddie with a cut foot."
Dustin, playing alongside Rory McIlroy and Bubba Watson, had earlier got off to a flying start when he followed a birdie at the 11th - his second - with a stunning eagle at the 12th.
A perfect tee shot left him with just 95 yards to the pin for his second, and his well-struck wedge pitched just short of the target before bounding into the cup for a rare two.
Watch the videos to see Dustin Johnson send his little brother for a swim, and how he holed out from 95 yards at the 12th ...
