British golf YouTuber Peter Finch has spoken out about Paige Spiranac’s team vegetation shot at the 2025 Internet Invitational on the Rough Cut Golf Podcast describing how he saw it. Finch claimed that what he did was address something he thought was cheating and determined the game’s course of action.
He also said that the good relationship he has with Spiranac’s team made his choice even harder, as they were friends and content partners, not simple competitors.
What Finch says he saw
Finch saw perfectly how Spiranac pressed down very tall grass in the rough near the ball of her teammate, Malosi “Mo” Togisala.Finch describes the grass as “pampas-style“, extremely thick and overgrown, which would have made any shot from there highly difficult. After she flattened the vegetation with her hands, Togisala managed to hit a clean, forward shot, something Finch says “seemed impossible without that help.”
I’m like, ‘No, no, no, no, no, don’t.’ And I was like, ‘Oh god, someone else look, someone else look
He admitted that confronting her felt morally fraught: “I like everyone on that team,” he said. Finch eventually told a member of the opposing team what he saw, but he did not want a public falling out.
I have information. The problem is first of all, I like everyone on that team. I felt a little bit ashamed… I was like, ‘Why me? Like why have I just seen that?
An inevitable situation
According to Finch, his attempt at a low-key resolution failed. Another golfer, Francis Ellis, directly told Spiranac about the incident. When informed about it, she became visibly emotional, breaking down into tears saying: “I thought you could do that … I didn’t realize you couldn’t.”
I wasn’t trying to cheat, like I would never do that
She insisted she did not knowingly cheat, insisting that she had not improved the lie or moved the ball. She apologized, expressing regret and claiming she would “never” intentionally break the rules.
The rules at play
The controversy centers on Rule 8.1 in golf’s rulebook, which prohibits moving or bending natural objects – including long grass – to improve a teammate’s lie.
Yet, there was no formal penalty given. According to Finch, because Spiranac’s team already lost that hole, there was no match-play penalty. That made many people argue on social media.
Spiranac has already addressed the controversy publicly. On her socials, she defended herself, claiming she misunderstood what was allowed, and said she did not try to cheat. She denied any wrongdoing in how teams were formed too.
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