Collin Morikawa’s decision to move ball during Masters sparks cheating debate

Fox News Flash top sports headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com.

Collin Morikawa’s opening round at the Masters didn’t come without a bit of controversy on Thursday.

The golf rule book came into conversation when Morikawa was setting up for a putt on the sixth hole when one of the Masters live streams got a close-up view of the 12th-ranked golfer in the world marking his ball on the green.

But the video looked as if Morikawa was placing his ball in front of his marker on the green, which would be a penalty.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Collin Morikawa of the United States plays his shot from the seventh tee during the first round of the 2023 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 06, 2023 in Augusta, Georgia. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Morikawa is one of the least controversial golfers on the PGA Tour, so a move like this to gain some sort of edge in the tournament didn’t seem like something he’d do. 

And that’s why context is key here.

63-YEAR-OLD MASTERS CHAMPION SHOOTS UNDER PAR IN FIRST ROUND

The entire situation apparently wasn’t shown in the clip as social media users began defending Morikawa.

Morikawa’s ball moved a bit, which means that he was allowed to place it back to where it originally was. Then, one social media user found the full video of what happened to Morikawa.

You can clearly see Morikawa’s ball seems to be disturbing him while he’s standing over it, forcing him to back off. He also looks to his playing partner, Matt Fitzpatrick, to make sure that where he’s placing the ball is fine with him.

Collin Morikawa of the United States plays a shot from a bunker on the 15th hole during the first round of the 2023 Masters