At the 2025 Masters, young golfer Josele Ballester did not mince words.“I mean, it was not embarrassing at all for me. If I had to do it again, I would do it again,” The Spaniard said. He was, of course, referring to the infamous incident that happened on the first day at the 13th hole. Ballester urgently needed a restroom, so, relieved himself from a ledge at the iconic venue and into Rae’s Creek.

Recalling the incident, Ballester was candid. “I’m like, ‘I really need to pee’, didn’t really know where to go, and since JT 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’. They clapped for me. Probably one of the claps that I really got today, real loud. So that was kind of funny.” The young golfer added. However, unlike the Spaniard, the fans failed to see the lighter side of it.

There were calls for the disqualification of the amateur golfer, as the patrons felt that Ballester had disrespected the iconic venue by urinating onto the creek. What made the whole situation even more untenable was the fact that restrooms were available for use right next to the green at the 13th hole. Since the infamous incident, Ballester has joined LIV Golf, teaming up with Sergio Garcia‘s Fireballs GC. He had declined a Korn Ferry Tour membership to do so.

Garcia, while talking to Andrew Santino in his latest episode of the No Bad Lies series, felt like the whole situation was given more attention than needed. “Everything at Augusta gets a little bit blown up. They blow it out of proportion a little bit.” The 2018 Masters Champion explained. The Augusta National does have some unfathomable rules. Jason Day was reprimanded in 2024 for his bold coloured-attire. Ballester’s coach, Matt Thurmond, was removed from the venue for wearing shorts. The Georgia-based golf course does maintain a strict leash on proceedings.

“Obviously he regrets doing it. But it’s not like he was in the middle of the fairway. He was on the bottom. You could barely see him.” Garcia further stated. While Ballester has not taken an apologetic tone with regards to his actions, he did maintain that he did not expect anyone to catch him in the act. “I tell you what trying to hit a shot when you need to go to the bathroom, it’s not a good feeling.” Garcia further expressed his thoughts in support of his new LIV teammate. To be fair to both Garcia and Ballester, this was not the first occasion that a golfer had to urgently answer the nature’s call.

Nature’s call is a difficult one not to answer for golfers

Current PGA Tour Champions golfer Ernie Els faced a similar situation to Ballester a few years back. “I had an emergency one year at the Heineken Classic, and they have those [sponsor] signs around the tees. There was no place to go, but it was in an area where the fans couldn’t get anywhere close to the tee. So I just walked behind those signs and went. Just had my hands on my hips, and there I went. I wouldn’t have done that if it hadn’t been kind of an urgent deal,” The South African senior golfer stated then.

Els’s incident happened at the Royal Melbourne, one of Australia’s oldest and most iconic golf courses. Even celebrated caddie Ted Scott felt the urge to relieve himself on the course. That happened during the 2010 Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor. Scott was caddying for Bubba Watson and had to go urgently to the second tee. Ballester’s incident is not a one-off situation.

What do you think of Josele Ballester’s incident at the Masters? Do you think it was a serious offense?