“Sounds like he touched it” – Fans react to throwback post of a magic ball from the 2017 Zurich Classic

Five years ago, a golf ball in the 2017 Zurich Classic had a mind of its own. Right before Chris Stroud could strike it from just off the green, the ball began to slightly move. He quickly pulled back his club and started altering everyone to the strange occurrence.

Upon close inspection, the ball could be seen slightly moving until it decided to simply take off. It began rolling onto the green and making for a much easier putt.

This kind of thing hardly happens at all. Generally speaking, a golf ball lands and stops rolling and doesn't move again. It can't really decide to move again without some outside force, but this golf ball had its own plans during the Zurich Classic.

The official rules expert came over to Stroud to ensure he'd done nothing illegal there or that it couldn't be considered one of his swings. He confirmed that Stroud hadn't grounded his club, nor had he touched the ball in any way, so the movement could stand.

It was one of the most surprising events in golf history. The ball genuinely began moving again, at a fairly rapid pace, after being still. The infamous magic ball lives on and the PGA Tour posted a throwback piece about it.

Even five years later, fans are convinced something untoward happened, or that genuine magic occurred that day. One commenter was convinced that Stroud had to touch the ball first.

Several commenters reacted to the video (Image via PGA Tour on Instagram)

A few others thought he had, at the very least, grounded his club which would have made the whole thing illegal.

Others believe that gravity and a bit of movement from Stroud influenced the magic ball from Zurich Classic.

Others believe that Stroud lied after the fact and that it should have been a stroke regardless.

Ultimately, it counted without a stroke, and the myth of the magic ball continues to live on and strike up debate even five years later.

What is the Zurich Classic?

The Zurich Classic of New Orleans (the full extended title) is a pro golf tournament on the PGA Tour. It is currently held at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, which is a suburb southwest of New Orleans. It began in 1938 and has been held annually since 1958.

In 2022, Patrick Cantlay took home the victory with a -29.

The Classic before that was held from April 22-25 in 2021. Cameron Smith and Marc Leishmann tied with -20 to take the victory.

Louis Oosthuizen was also -20 but finished second.

The next scheduled Classic will be in April 2023. The event will kick off with the Pro-Am on April 17. The first round will then be held on April 20. The final round and ceremonies will be held on April 23.