Augusta – Jose Luis Ballester will probably remain more in memories for a dubious label violation than for his golf during his first trip to play in the Masters.
The Spanish golfer who obtained a place in the first major championship of the year by winning the American amateur last summer missed the cup with a healthy margin on Friday and was then contracted on what happened in the first round.
The reports of his public urination on the course near the 13th green Thursday became viral, and while Ballester said that he had tried to avoid social media, he had heard friends who had his back.
When asked if he had also heard national representatives of Augusta, who would undoubtedly make the eyebrows on such behavior, he simply said he was sorry.
“I have already apologized to the club, and I think we are just going from that moment,” he said.
As for the reaction, he said: “A couple of friends stretched out just to say hey, everything will be fine. I am always your friend. So, yes, it’s good to have these friends who are supported to you when the news is not so good about you.”
Ballester, 21, who plays the university golf course in Arizona State, participated in the first two laps with the defending champion Scottie Scheffler and the major major winner Justin Thomas.
Although he turned 76-78 scores to miss the cup while the two pros did it, Ballester said it was an excellent learning experience.
“These guys are here, especially because of their quality with the Greens, the quantity of knowledge they have, their quality to perceive the slopes and read the Greens,” said Ballester. “I hit a lot of good shots with the pilots and irons the two days, but what I thought that these guys are in a completely (different) level of the place where I am is around the Greens. It was not a great week for me in this aspect, but also impatiently the next opportunities that I see how I compare myself with them. ”
