Report: PGA Tour ‘hothead’ stages mid-round protest over Min Woo Lee’s pace-of-play
Legendary caddie turned on-course commentator Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay claimed PGA Tour pro Alejandro Tosti clashed with Ryan Fox and Min Woo Lee during the final round of the Texas Children’s Houston Open.
PGA Tour golfer Alejandro Tosti staged a bizarre protest over Min Woo Lee’s pace-of-play during the final round of the Texas Children’s Houston Open.
Tosti was playing in the final group of the $9.5m PGA Tour event at Memorial Park Golf Club alongside the Australian and New Zealand’s Ryan Fox.
Lee is known as a deliberate player but his glacial pace at the par-5 8th hole appeared to rub Tosti the wrong way.
The 26-year-old held a comfortable lead and was chasing his first PGA Tour title but found himself in a world of trouble after he hit his tee shot into a bush.
After a protracted back-and-forth with his caddie Bo Martin, Lee ultimately decided to take a drop and advanced his golf ball up the fairway by hitting a piercing stinger below the overhanging branches.
From there, Lee stuffed his approach to within 10 feet and saved par in miraculous fashion.
But by the time he had trudged off the green the group had taken more than 30 minutes to complete the hole.
Tosti was furious and, according to legendary caddie turned on-course commentator Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay, confronted a rules official about what transpired.
Then, on the 12th hole, Tosti was spotted walking approximately 100 yards behind his playing partners.
NBC commentators described it as a deliberate attempt to slow down play further.
Golf Channel and NBC Sports golf writer Brentley Romine captured an image and shared it on X:
Mackay said: “I don’t know what’s going on, but Tosti is playing at his own pace. At times, it’s normal. At times, it’s glacially slow.
“But he’s decided on this particular hole to really take his time, and he’s holding up play in this last group.”
Bones also reported that Tosti, a 28-year-old Argentinian pro, also clashed with Fox earlier in the round.
The looper claimed Tosti had been ‘disrespectful’ to the Kiwi during a drop situation at the first hole.