"I play by the rules" - Collin Morikawa defends himself amidst cheating rumors at The Masters

Collin Morikawa was accused of cheating at The Masters. He was brutally slammed by social media users for moving his golf ball on the 6th hole of Augusta during the first round of The Masters on April 6.

A video of Collin Morikawa erupted on social media on Thursday, showing him replacing the ball from its original position. Fans called on the officials to suspend him from the competition.

However, soon after, an extended version of the video went viral, showing Collin Morikawa playing by the rules. The incident occurred while he was preparing for a putt and involuntarily the ball moved from its marked position and he shifted it back to its original mark.

Collin Morikawa reshared a video posted by Nuclr Golf to defend himself amidst the cheating allegations. He tweeted:

"Here’s the full video…Ball moved as I addressed it, so I threw the coin down in no specific place, replaced the ball to the original spot and then moved my marker to the original spot (from where I threw it). I play by the rules, I promise."

Collin Morikawa discussed it with his playing partner and moved the ball back to its original position and marked it again. He did not cheat as per the rules set by the officials which allow the players to move the ball to the original position if it accidentally moved from the marked position.

There are two specific rules to elucidate this and they are as follows:

1) No Penalty for Accidentally Causing Ball to Move

There is no penalty if the player, opponent, or another player in stroke play accidentally moves the player’s ball or ball-marker on the putting green. The player must replace the ball on its original spot (which if not known, must be estimated) or place a ball-marker to mark that original spot.

2) When to Replace Ball Moved by Natural Forces

If natural forces cause a player’s ball on the putting green to move, where the player must play from next depends on whether the ball had already been lifted and replaced on its original spot.

Collin Morikawa finished in the T13 position after the inaugural round with a scoring deficit of 3.

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"Focus on the tournament and ignore the noise!" - Fans react to Collin Morikawa's post

Fans came in support of Collin Morikawa after the full video was released. They jumped into the comments section of the golfer's post and wrote:

"Focus on the tournament and ignore the noise!"

"These twitter trolls that want to hate don't follow golf or no the rules. ignore them and good luck going forward!"

"Collin, no explanation needed, never a doubt you play by the rules. It was mostly the LIV crowd posting an edited version of the incident to make it appear you were cheating."

"Never doubted for a second. One of the most likable players in the game and beyond question above reproach sportsmanlike."

"Never doubted you a second. No one would be that blatant for 2 inches on a 35-40 footer."

The Masters will wrap up with a finale on Sunday, April 9, at the Augusta National Golf Course. Bubba Watson, Viktor Hovland, and Jon Rahm shared a three-way lead after the opening round.