One PGA Tour star was disqualified midway through the World Wide Technology Championship at the El Cardonal Golf Course in Mexico.
Emilio Gonzalez had hit an opening round of 73 at the course Tiger Woods had a hand in designing, before returning for a two-under 71 in the second round.
It wasn’t enough for Gonzalez to make the cut though, with the home crowd favourite falling two shots short of the required score.
A disappointing return for Gonzalez, who had been granted a sponsorship exemption to compete at the event, which boasted a healthy £5.5million ($7.2m) total purse.
But things got significantly worse for the home crowd favourite when it was revealed on Friday night, just hours after Gonzalez was dumped out of the competition, he wouldn’t even register a final ranking, because he’d been disqualified.
The incident surrounded a tee shot on the 15th hole that flew into the desert area of the course.
Opting to play a provisional shot before heading out to search for his mishit ball, Gonzalez was handed a reprieve after his initial tee shot was found within the allotted three-minute period.
But the golfer didn’t appear to be convinced, instead, Gonzalez continued with his provisional shot – a move that suggests he didn’t think the re-discovered ball was his
It’s a move that landed him in trouble, with the Tour dishing out the severe punishment because, according to their rules, a player must make a ‘reasonable effort’ to identify the ball clearly and determine whether the found one was his or not.
Posting to their official account on X, the PGA Tour said: “Emilio Gonzalez was disqualified after the second round of the World Wide Technology Championship due to a breach of Rule 18.3. (Provisional Ball).”
It wrapped up a truly miserable outing for Gonzalez, who prior to his disqualification had said: “It’s a matter to keep improving in the direction I’m going
“I think I’m doing things right, trust my process and polishing my game on the green and around the green.”
Perhaps, a refresh on the rules wouldn’t go amiss either…
Meanwhile, at the event in western Mexico, Nicolas Echavarria and Max Greyserman are tied at the top with an overall score of 12 under.
Carson Young trails the leading duo by one, with Dylan Wu sitting at 10 under ahead of several players tied at nine under.