'I really need to pee': Amateur golfer takes 'relief' at Amen Corner during the Masters
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AUGUSTA, Ga. — At Augusta National, nature is an ever-present force. But you should be very careful how you answer its call.
On particularly dry days, the grounds crew at Augusta will sprinkle the property to maintain proper hydration. In the first round of the 2025 Masters, amateur Jose Luis Ballester apparently decided to do a little amateur sprinkling of his own behind the 13th green.
“I completely forgot that we had those restrooms to the left of the [13th] tee box,” Ballester said after completing a 4-over round. “I'm like, I really need to pee. Didn't really know where to go.”
At the same time, playing partner Justin Thomas had just hit his ball out of bounds on his approach, and was taking his penalty shot, giving Ballester a bit of cover. “Since JT had an issue on the green,” Ballester explained, “I'm like, ‘I'm just going to sneak here in the river and probably people would not see me that much.’”
That “river” in fact is a branch of Rae’s Creek, and, in fact, people did see him. So much so that they applauded the effort.
“Probably one of the claps that I really got today real loud,” Ballester said, smiling, “so that was kind of funny.”
Asked if he was concerned that the powers that be at Augusta National might not be thrilled with his pit stop, Ballester replied, “It was not embarrassing at all for me. If I had to do it again, I would do it again.” Chances are good that, in fact, he will need to do it again, but probably won’t do it in the same azalea-laden locale.
Number 1, this is a breach of etiquette that surely won’t go over well with Augusta National. Number 2 … there was no Number 2. And we can all be thankful for that.
