AUGUSTA, Ga. – Jose Luis Ballester was pissed to miss the cut at the 89th Masters on Friday.
All jokes aside, the 21-year-old Arizona State senior, who was spotted urinating in a tributary to Rae’s Creek’s at the 13th hole at Augusta National during the first round on Thursday, tried to squash that storyline after completing his second round.
“I already apologized to the club, and I think we just move on from this moment,” he said.
But not only did he admit to the incident on Thursday, he said he would have done it again. The story went viral and made headlines beyond the typical golf websites. Nevertheless, Ballester claimed he hadn’t heard much chatter on the subject.
“I try to stay away from social media. A couple friends reached out just to say 'hey, you'll be fine. I'm still your friend,'” he said. “So yeah, it's good to have those friends that have your back when the news is not that good about you.”
Ballester earned an invite to the Masters by winning the 2024 U.S. Amateur. He also is exempt into the U.S. Open in June and the British Open in July. The Spaniard is a key contributor to the No. 3-ranked Sun Devils and their hopes of going deep in match play at the NCAA Championship at Omn LaCosta Resort in Carlsbad, California, later this spring.
Despite missing the 36-hole cut at the Masters with rounds of 76-78, Ballester demonstrated – in more ways than one – that he’s a whiz.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Jose Luis Ballester apologizes for peeing in creek at Masters
