Henley: 8 penalty shots for using different ball is 'extreme'

Russell Henley was handed a total of eight penalty strokes for breaking the PGA Tour's One Ball Rule during Round 2 of the Mayakoba Golf Classic.

He told PGA Tour officials of the error and missed the cut as a result of it. However, Henley believes the punishment is too severe.

"Do I think eight shots is extreme in this situation? Absolutely," Henley said, according to Golfweek's Adam Schupak. "I think there should be a max of four. I hope eventually we can have some conversations and change the rule. I came from such an innocent place, you could call it a careless place, and given there was no intent I think it's a pretty harsh rule."

Henley noticed while signing autographs for fans that one of the balls he used during his second round in Mexico was slightly different than the others, which is a breach of the PGA Tour's One Ball Rule.

"I change balls every four or five holes, whenever I hit a wedge and there's a scuff on it or something. I think I changed around No. 4, 9 or 10, and 14 or 15," Henley said. "(The rules officials) told me that based on what we know and the high probability I used it, we’re going to take the average of the number of holes you typically used it, which is four."

A two-stroke penalty was given for the four holes Henley used the ball on, resulting in a 77 instead of 69 and a missed cut instead of a paycheck. Under Henley's recommendation of a four-shot max, he would have extended his made-cut streak to nine.

The PGA Tour uses the One Ball Rule to prevent players from switching between balls that may offer different benefits during a round.