Amateur golfer Jose Luis Ballester had to use the bathroom so badly during the Masters Tournament that he urinated in one of the creeks.
On Thursday (April 10), during the final leg of his first round in the Masters, Ballester forgot the ground had restrooms and went off to Rae's Creek on the par-5 13th hole while his teammate Justin Thomas was playing the 12th green and relieved himself. Ballester thought no one would no one would see him, but he was wrong, as fans applauded him for the daring effort that he took in stride.
"I'm like, 'I really need to pee,'" said Ballester. "Didn't really know where to go, and since [Thomas] had an issue on the green, I'm like, 'I'm just going to sneak here in the river, and probably people would not see me that much,' and then they clapped for me. Probably one of the claps that I really got today real loud, so that was kind of funny."
He added, "They saw me. It was not embarrassing at all for me. If I had to do it again, I would do it again."
Following his bathroom break, Ballester went an even par on his final six holes of the first round, finishing with a 4-over 76. That number put him in a tie for 73rd in the field of 95 players and a tie for second among the five amateurs in the Masters Tournament.
Ballester currently plays college golf at Arizona State. He missed the chance to advance to the next round of the tournament but applauded his teammates for making it.
“These guys are here especially because of how good they are around the greens, how much knowledge they have, how good they are at perceiving the slopes and reading greens,” Ballester said. “I hit many good shots with drivers and irons both days, but what I felt that those guys are in a completely [different] level from where I am is around the greens. It was not a great week for me in that aspect, but also looking forward to the next opportunities that I get to see how I compare myself with them.”