Tiger Woods Loses 2 Strokes Before Golf Even Begins

The Masters' rules-keepers aren't letting much slide this year, no matter how big the name. Tiger Woods got penalized two strokes before the start of the third round this morning after officials reviewed a drop he took on the 15th hole yesterday, reports ESPN. It's a huge penalty, putting Woods five shots back instead of three. And it comes a day after 14-year-old prodigy Guan Tianlang got tagged with a rare slow-play penalty that cost him a stroke.

As for Tiger: His trouble started on the 15th when his third shot hit the flag and doinked into the water. He dropped a new ball, as he can do under the rules with a one-stroke penalty, and played on. The problem is that he was supposed to drop that ball as closely as possible to the original. And as he himself admitted afterward, "I went back to where I played it from, but went two yards further back." (He didn't want to hit the flag again.) It might have been worse: The Masters could have disqualified him for signing what turned out to be an inaccurate scorecard. Bleacher Report has video of the shot, along with reaction to the decision. (More Tiger Woods stories.)