One slightly ambiguous section of the Rules of Golf took center stage at TPC Potomac on Thursday, starring alongside a rules official and a very frustrated Sergio Garcia, who threatened to leave the PGA Tour in the process.

Sound like a lot? Well, it was a lot.

Garcia hooked his tee shot on the 10th hole during the first round of the Wells Fargo Championship into high grass near a stream. The hazard line began on the right side of the stream, meaning everything left of the stream was also a hazard. Garcia moved along, looking for a place to cross the stream, and begin hunting for his errant drive. What wasn’t clear to most of the people involved was, when did the three minutes he is allotted to search for his ball start? Was it when he was walking right of the stream, parallel with where his ball was? Or would it begin once he traversed the stream? We would have to find out. Even John Maginnes, the on-course reporter, wasn’t sure.

Garcia began his trek across the stream, moving gingerly from rock to rock. He even paused to point out a snake to the nearby cameraman. Garcia smiled — all was well!

Maybe the best part of all this was that Sergio, mid-search, had to Frogger his way across a stream and paused to point out a snake to the TV cameraman. pic.twitter.com/WVV7TNo2pv

— Sean Zak (@Sean_Zak) May 5, 2022

And when he happened to find his ball a couple of minutes later, he was happy, if only for a moment. He shouted for his caddie to join him after clarifying that the ball was his, and John Swantek described it well on the broadcast: “Hoo, a buzzer beater. Just in the nick of time.”

Only it wasn’t.

Just moments after Garcia alerted his group that he found his ball, the rules official announced that it took him four minutes to find it, which means unfortunately for the competition’s sake, Garcia’s ball was found but technically lost.

What ensued was one of the great mini, niche debates of golf. When exactly did Garcia begin his search? Was it when he was on the right side of the stream, head down, kicking through the grass? That’s what the rules official said. Or did his three minutes begin once he crossed the stream after being told it was over there? The bizarre nature of this was only heightened by the fact that Garcia was alone on his side of the stream. No caddies, players or anyone walking with the group joined Garcia in the hunt on that side of the water.

As he made his way back to the course’s mainland, he started to ridicule the ruling. “You want me to swim through the river? I wasn’t looking for the ball there. I was looking for the ball once I got over to this side. Does that make sense? I knew it was on this side of the river.”

What happened next took the bizarro to the next level. The rules official clarified his ruling and Garcia, swatting flies away from his face, said, “So, you’re saying it took too long?”

Then he turned away and offered these words: “I can’t wait to leave this Tour.”

Sergio Garcia, frustrated with what he thought was the early start of the clock to look for a lost ball, seemingly telling a rules official…

…I cant wait to leave this tour

…cant wait to get outta here

…just a couple more weeks until I don’t have to deal with you any more pic.twitter.com/k1qRRYbmsF

— The Fried Egg (@the_fried_egg) May 5, 2022

“I can’t wait to get out of here, my friend,” Garcia continued as he grabbed his ball and trudged back to the fairway. “Just a couple more weeks and I won’t have to deal with you anymore.”

Maginnes jumped back in on the broadcast to defend Garcia, saying, “The thing is, there just happened to be a rules official there. I mean, no player is wearing a wristwatch and timing themselves. And nobody in the group was going to say that was four minutes and 15 seconds. Someone who does the exact same thing in a different situation without an official there timing them, well, he’s going to play from over there and not be penalized.”

It’s a fair point when watching the live coverage back. Garcia makes clear rather early that he intends to search on the other side of the stream. It’s a bit of a treacherous hike back to the area, over rocks and water and through high grass. When exactly did he start the search? The difference of opinion stayed top of mind as Garcia took his drop.

Now in the fairway, Garcia shoved his clubs into his staff bag, and shouted across the fairway, “I’m going to play slow now, okay?” He striped an iron for a layup and then proceed to berate the official. “That is bulls—t. That is absolute bulls—t. I mean, I’m a minute and a half over [time] and you don’t tell me?”

It was at that point that play needed to move on. Gary Woodland and Luke List had waited plenty long for the ordeal to play out, not offering much in terms of rule guidance. Garcia nipped a wedge to 10 feet and made the putt for a ridiculous par. Then four holes later he holed out for eagle from 161 yards away. Because of course.

Later Thursday night the PGA Tour issued a statement saying they made an error in the Sergio Garcia ruling that led to his controversial remarks.

Steve Rintoul, PGA Tour senior tournament director, offered a clarification via PGA Tour Communications after the round:

“As Garcia entered the penalty area, a referee located on the 10th hole started a search time clock, as it appeared a search for the golf ball had begun. Unbeknownst to the referee, the players in the group were told by a TV spotter that the ball was on the far side of the creek, and at that point, Garcia spent a considerable amount of time trying to access the other side of the creek. This was not in clear view of the referee due to other players in the group playing, so the time clock was still running on the search when it should have been paused. When the ball was found by Garcia, the ferry’s three-minute search time had expired, and Garcia was informed the ball was treated as lost.”

The tour explained that the rules committee reviewed video from the situation, and in the process discovered that Garcia should not have been timed as he was trying to traverse the creek. “To clarify, the time spent by Garcia trying to access the other side of the creek should have delayed the start of the search time clock, and the ball would have still been ‘in play’ if not for that error,” the statement read.

Unfortunately for Garcia, the Rules of Golf prevent his score from changing despite the clarification.

Garcia was able to bounce-back from the 10th hole mishap to turn in a three-under 67. Garcia declined to talk to the media following his round.

Article originally appeared on: Golf.com