After a stellar round on Thursday, Lucas Herbert showcased another masterclass on Friday, breaking a 43-year-old record. He lit up Royal Birkdale by matching Denis Durnian’s lowest-ever front nine in The Open history with a 28. Herbert also equaled the lowest round ever recorded in a men’s major with an 8-under-par 62, comfortably holding onto his place at the top of the leaderboard. However, the LIV Golf star soon found himself in deep water after his caddie, Nick Pugh, was caught using a rangefinder. 

“Something came to our attention not long ago. After Lucas Herbert hit, his caddie pulled out a rangefinder and was looking through it,” reported Sky Sports commentator Rich Beem, per Golf Monthly. The incident took place on the 14th tee when Pugh pulled out a rangefinder. While the PGA Tour allows the use of the device under strict limitations, The Open Championship prohibits its use. Under the tournament’s rules, players cannot get distance information using a distance-measuring device. Fellow commentator Andrew Coltart was quick to highlight this information.

“I have the rules out here in front of me on the rules sheet. Rule 10 prohibits the use of distance-measuring devices. So we will need to clear something up very shortly.” Because of this violation, the Australian quickly found himself face-to-face with a potential two-shot penalty. However, fortunately for Herbert, things weren’t as they had seemed. Coltart came back with an update on the matter, which quickly cleared Herbert of any wrongdoing and shed light on what had actually happened.  

🤔 golf trivia

This Should Be an Easy One, Right?

01/10

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59394015

Oops, bogey!

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“To give you an update, the R&A ensures that batteries are removed, so they can only be used as a binocular thing rather than a measuring device,” Coltart said. 

So, what was Pugh doing with the distance-measuring device? He was using the optical device to see whether the ball had gone into the bunker. Instead of checking the slop. In fact, in his scorecard, which the R&A made public, it was written that Herbert used a driver for the first time this week on the 14th hole. When the matter was done and dusted, the 30-year-old closed out the round with 8-under-par to remain at the top. 

Meanwhile, The Athletic spoke with Herbert’s caddie, who explained LIV Golf allows the use of rangefinders, though he knew The Open didn’t. However, he recalled another caddie telling him he could carry a rangefinder at the U.S. Open for its magnification feature, provided he had removed the batteries. The incident carried significance because players have been disqualified for using the device. 

At last year’s AIG Women’s Open, Ana Pelaez Trivino was disqualified after the R&A found out that her caddie, Miguel Evangelio Gomez-Escolar, had used a rangefinder. He used it twice, which is why Trivino was disqualified instead of just getting a two-shot penalty. Moreover, just last year, Davis Riley used his rangefinder on the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. While he was permitted to use the device, he wasn’t allowed to use the slope feature.

However, while trying to check the distance, he realized that the slope feature was also turned on. Riley, in fact, called the rules official himself and explained the situation. He incurred a two-stroke penalty. But pros have faced far worse consequences as well.

Back in 2021, Brett White was DQed from the Colbert Charity Classic on the mini-tour All Pro Tour for using a distance-measuring device. He allegedly used the slope function to hit multiple shots. The culprit was again negligence, as White, who was just four shots off the leader in the final round, later clarified it in a tweet.

“On the 3rd tee box during round 4 my playing partners noticed my rangefinder clicked on slope mode. I did not notice it was on until after my fourth shot. While it was a complete accident, intent in this situation does not matter, and I was DQ’d. Tough pill to swallow.”

Just two years later, Natthakritta Vongtaveelap, a 20-year-old rookie at that time, was DQed from the U.S. Women’s Open on her debut. At that time, the USGA completely prohibited the use of rangefinders, and her caddie used it on multiple occasions. So she had to pack her bag and leave.

So far, there are no recorded instances of a player or caddie being penalized for carrying distance-measuring devices with their batteries removed, which makes Lucas Herbert’s situation unusual. However, the rules had a caveat and Herbert didn’t gain undue favor.