Golf: Bizarre incidents on 17th fail to put Campbell off his stroke

Michael Campbell

VERSAILLES - Michael Campbell regained the lead on day three of the French Open, despite a bizarre incident on the penultimate hole of the National Club course in Versailles.

Campbell had muscled his way to a three stroke leading advantage when he carved his tee shot at the par four 17th well right of the fairway to clear a hospitality tent and land out-of-bounds.

The former US Open winner went looking for his ball only to find a similar Callaway, but that was not his ball.

He then headed slowly back to the tee but only to again carve his third shot well right with his ball this time slamming into the same hospitality tent and ricocheting off an exhibition stand.

The ball then hit the shin of a female spectator, who chased the rolling ball and kicked it back into play some 2m to her left from where she had been hit.

Not knowing this, Campbell then proceeded to play a third ball off the tee, or what would have been a fifth shot, that found deep rough down the left side of the fairway.

The actions of the unidentified woman prompted tour referee, Andy McFee, to advise Campbell to play both balls while he reviewed video footage of the incident and also to speak to several people in the corporate tent who witnessed the episode.

There was then a further bizarre twist and more confusion when McFee asked Campbell the location of his third ball that had gone into the rough. The ball had in fact been picked up by the caddy of playing partner Jaokim Backstrom of Sweden, with McFee ruling Campbell could have a free drop.

Campbell then recorded a triple-bogey seven with the second ball and an eight with the third, taking close to 40 minutes to eventually play the hole.

Campbell then headed to the last, played a superb 4-iron second shot to seven metres and holed the birdie putt.

Before handing in his card, Campbell was escorted by McFee to the Sky TV compound where footage of the incident was shown to him. It led to McFee finally ruling that Campbell's ball was in fact rolling back into play whether or not it had been interfered with by an "outside agency".

"There is no question that Michael's ball was deflected by an outside agency but at that point where it was deflected the ball was still moving back towards the golf course," said McFee. "We spoke to three or four people at the time and we went back and spoke to four other persons who said they saw it. They gave a consistent view and their view was the ball was not deflected but it looks that way on the tape.

"That was the key point whether the ball was going back in bounds.

"I have got to apply equity to the field and to Michael and it's that the ball could have come back in bounds then you play the ball as it lies.

"So the standard is that the benefit of any doubt goes to the player. Michael didn't cause this."

Campbell was credited with a triple bogey seven that put him back into a share of the lead on nine-under par with England's John Bickerton.

But after holing out for birdie at the last for an eventual round of 68, Campbell heads to the final round and looking to become the first New Zealand born winner in the 100th staging of Continental Europe's oldest tournament.

- NZPA