Fan On Tiger's Stolen Ball: “I know for a fact that I did not see anybody who rushed away"

You'll be shocked...SHOCKED...to learn that a fan, Chris Kroeger talking to Steve Elling, is disputing the notion someone might have picked up Tiger's ball on Friday at the Wells Fargo Championship.

Kroeger's morning-after version is pretty convincing.

He said he was standing on the left side of the putting green on the fifth hole when Woods sent his approach from 261 yards deep into the trees.

“It came behind us, over our heads,” he said. “I heard nothing but leaves, and not any clean contact with any trees. I don't think the ball kicked out and I did not see any ball on the ground.”

He estimated that perhaps 50 people were in the area when the shot was struck, and they began searching for the ball immediately. As the rest of the Woods gallery caught up, it swelled to at least 300, Kroeger said. Marshals began moving fans back as Russell arrived and asked spectators what they had seen.

Two male fans, including one very vocal man, insisted they had seen the ball on the ground. Trouble is, Kroeger is pretty sure they were not among the original throng of fans who were greenside when the shot was hit in the first place.

“I had never even seen that guy,” Kroeger said.