31-year-old Australian Rhein Gibson lost his cool during the final round of the Bahamas Great Abaco Classic. Gibson, who headed into the 72nd hole tied for second and had a chance to force a playoff. Gibson stuttered when he hit his second shot into the water near the green meaning he would have to chip in to play an extra hole. Unfortunately, a rules official informed Gibson that his caddie, Brandon Davis, was the one who identified the ball in the hazard and picked it up, a violation of Rule 18.2 and a one-stroke penalty.
Gibson finished the final hole with a bogey and went from tied for second to third and lost out on an extra $16,000. What happened after the drop is what has people talking though. Gibson was clearly frustrated and removed his putter head cover and threw it at Davis, who later said he was fired at this moment.
“Rhein and I go over, look at it, I say ‘it’s under two rocks, we got nothing’. Rhein turns around and walks to his bag as if to say ‘forget it’ – clearly intending never to play the ball.
“Supposedly we’re a team in this game. The ball is dead, Rhein is clearly not hitting this golf ball, so I go over and pick it up.”
Wow, even I treated my caddies with more respect than this guy. pic.twitter.com/gFeTiRGM3b
— Shooter McGavin (@ShooterMcGavin_) January 24, 2018
Hey @TronCarterNLU @NoLayingUp not sure this qualifies as #toursauce pic.twitter.com/FHaCwzWQF0
— Scott Selling (@_SellingOut_) January 24, 2018
Gibson took to Twitter to apologize for the incident:
Unfortunately my caddy was involved with a ruling on the 18th that caused me to fall from t2 to 3rd. My actions were less then professional and I apologize to my caddy and those that took offense to my behaviors.
— Rhein Gibson (@RheinGibson55) January 24, 2018
While Davis used his account to explain that he did nothing wrong:
I was his caddy and did nothing wrong, here's the proof:
Decision 26.1/9
A.There is no penalty under Rule 18-2 if there was no doubt or it was reasonable to assume from the player's actions or statements that he would make his next stroke from outside the water hazard. https://t.co/W8dQHmAkeK
— Brandon Davis (@bdavistwo) January 25, 2018
Here's exactly what happened…Ball was dead underneath two rocks and I told you about it and you said "fuck" and turned around stopped looking and walked back to the bag. The tour official actually found the unhittable ball. I then went over and quickly retrieved it.
100% fact. https://t.co/W8dQHmAkeK
— Brandon Davis (@bdavistwo) January 25, 2018
You can watch Gibson’s explanation below: