The Masters
Masters 2025: Amateur makes splash with watershed moment by taking free 'relief' in Rae's Creek
A photo of Jose Luis Ballester during Thursday's first round of the 2025 Masters, by Stephen Denton.
AUGUSTA, Ga. — For once, a player was trying to go into Rae's Creek. Forgive us for the following investigative urinalism, but reporters were left with no other choice regarding the actions of Jose Luis Ballester.
The reigning U.S. Amateur champ was asked about an incident during Thursday's first round of the Masters at the 13th hole, and it's a story that simply couldn't be held in and gives new meaning to free relief:
Q: At 13 there was an issue. Did you have an emergency? Obviously they cheered. Can you tell us what happened there?
JOSE LUIS BALLESTER: Well, I completely forgot that we had those restrooms to the left of the tee box –
Q: On the 13th tee?
JOSE LUIS BALLESTER: Correct, and then I'm like, I really need to pee. Didn't really know where to go, and since JT [Justin 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.
Q: Were you concerned that there might be any blowback from that at all? Obviously they did see you, right?
JOSE LUIS BALLESTER: They saw me. They saw me. It was not embarrassing at all for me. If I had to do it again, I would do it again.
Talk about making a splash at Augusta National. Given the crowd's enthusiastic reaction suggests, they appreciated his candid stream of consciousness decision-making.
It should be noted that in the flow of tournament play, nature sometimes calls at inopportune moments. Ballester's impromptu pit stop might not have been the most conventional way to handle the situation, but the Spaniard showed he wasn't the least bit flushed by the attention.
In order to not leak the weekend away, Ballester has some serious work to do after a four-over 76. Should he manage to rebound tomorrow, this story will surely be remembered as a watershed moment.
