Ewen Ferguson reacts to a lucky shot he won when his approach on 18 sailed over the green.
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It’s using the rules to your advantage and then using the tournament infrastructure to your advantage. Ewen Ferguson, your 36-hole outright leader at the Dubai Desert Classic, did both on Friday.
The 28-year-old Scot, who lives in the United Arab Emirates not far away Emirates Golf Clubhe’s used to playing the 18th green with nothing around him. The 564-yard par-5 is a little odd, requiring less than a driver to bend into a puppy corner and then a long shot to the green covering a water hazard. All this means is that you have to start your approach in the sky, hold the water and hope that it lands easily.
Unless you play it on Classic Desert Dubai. Then the 18th green has a bump landing area that can help.
Among the most beloved tournaments on the DP World Tour schedule, the Dubai Desert Classic does its best to bring spectators as close as possible to the finishing hole … while also offering them some shade from the high temperatures in the Middle East. That just doesn’t create much space surrounding the shared green of the 9th and 18th holes.
In the example of Friday’s second round, the hole location was cut deep into the green, just a few steps from the back edge, which is just a few steps from the hardstand surrounding the massive green. A shot behind the lead, Ferguson pulled his ball into the fairway, leaving 243 yards on the hole.
But it was evening and it was getting cold with a breeze on his face. Ferguson stepped up to a 3-wood, dunked on the wrist a few inches and swung hard, chipping. His ball soared into Dubai’s iconic sky until it caught in the stands behind the putting green. It being the late stages of the second round, only a handful of spectators were still ready to hear him. Of course none of them without that. But some were awfully close to hitting.
The Sky Sports broadcasters were baffled as to what happened. Did the ball hit a sprinkler head? If it hadn’t flown by now, maybe. But this ball flew up into the fairway, hitting just enough to create an echo, and then back onto the green, rolling within five feet.
All Ferguson could do is laugh and go up to read the break on his eagle putt. When he did, he jumped into the sole lead through 36 holes, giving him a late Saturday time — and plenty of criticism online.
Did he intentionally play his shot long, knowing he might get a favorable bounce from the stands? Such an action is known as “magnificent” and takes place in pro tournaments all over the world. If his ball got stuck in the receiving zone, he would get a favorable drop.
It is not the player’s fault that an artificial table has been added to the golf hole. But is it in the spirit of the game? Or is it just fate that makes these things happen? An example of responses on social media not liking the way it played out. But what did Ferguson think? He was asked about it after his round.
“Some players have taken advantage of the table,” asked a reporter. “Was that your intention today?”
“Honestly 7-wood or 3-wood and in the wind,” he began, “getting a little chilly as the day was getting a little late. I thought, you know, what I’ll just go to the back and even if I have to go in the drop zone, I’ll just spray it out.
“If I had a 15-footer at the bottom, I’d be fine with that. Still would have done it on a good day, but a little luck goes a long way. The game hits you hard enough, so taking a little break is good.”
Now, does this absolve Ferguson of any guilt – in the eyes of the all-powerful Internet viewer – or does it criminalize him? He openly admitted that he accepts the fate of any shot that goes long, even if it has to be played from a loose area. Well, the only way he was going to play from a loose area was if he sent his ball up into the stands. So the idea that he wouldn’t just last long, but also also long, was on his mind.
But was he wrong to think this way?
Again, there is no right answer here. At least not one that can be controlled. What if he played that 7-wood into the spot and thinned it out, low and putt, bouncing one over the green and returning to play in a similar spot? Remember how the reporter started his question too: Some players have taken advantage of the backboard…
Ferguson was not alone in this line of thinking, which leaves us with another, final question: whose is this the fault? Is tournament golf bound to make this happen? Should the players be penalized? Are tournament staff supposed to plan pin positions AFTER have hosted hospitality suites? What comes first?
The best answer we’ve seen to these tricky questions comes from the R&A, which often rings the 18th hole at the Grandstand Open Championship. They are able to do this and avoid contempt because drop zones that paint near green are made to be as brutal as possible. If you can play it from the long, overgrown grass, well, then you can feel comfortable launching the ball into the stands. Be our guest.
