Playing in a European Tour event while paired with Ballasteros, Zimbabwean Tony Johnstone devised an opportunity to give Seve some of his own medicine. On one hole, both men had pulled their drives off the left of the fairway over a small rise.
Johnstone was the first to walk over the rise and immediately took a stance over a ball that was behind a small tree and a few feet from a sprinkler head. By golf rules, a player is allowed a free drop (i.e., no penalty stroke) if in his normal stance his foot comes in contact with a sprinkler head. In this instance, a drop would permit the player to move the ball two club-lengths away from the sprinkler head, and thus clear of the tree in front.
As Seve cleared the rise, Johnstone took an exaggerated stance that placed one of his feet on the sprinkler head. He looked at Seve and asked, “I can take a drop, right?”
“No, no, no. No drop.” countered Seve.
So Johnstone changed his stance so that his other foot touched the sprinkler. “What about now?” he asked.
“No, no. No drop,” Seve said again.
Johnstone backed off and said, “OK, then play it. It’s YOUR ball,” and he walked a few yards away to his own ball.
