By Frank Pingue
AUGUSTA, Georgia (Reuters) -Jose Luis Ballester has apologised to Augusta National Golf Club for peeing in a creek on the famed course in view of patrons during his opening round of the year’s first major, the Spanish amateur said on Friday.
The 21-year-old Ballester made headlines during Thursday’s opening round when went to the tributary to nearby Rae’s Creek to urinate during a lull in the action while playing partner Justin Thomas dealt with an issue on the 13th green.
“Well, I already apologized to the club, and I think we just move on from this moment,” Ballester said after he missed the halfway cut in his Masters debut.
Ballester, who won the U.S. Amateur last year, said some friends reached out to express their support for him after the incident garnered international attention.
“A couple (of) friends reached out just to say hey, ‘You’ll be fine. I’m still your friend’,” said Ballester, a senior at Arizona State University.
“So yeah, it’s good to have those friends that have your back when the news is not that good about you.”
(Reporting by Frank Pingue and Rory Carroll in Augusta, Georgia; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
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