At 27, Mexican Emilio Gonzalez was supposed to have a dream week on the El Cardonal Diamante course in Cabo San Lucas, where he was playing his second PGA Tour tournament in his home country thanks to an exemption. But the experience turned into a nightmare because not only did he miss the cut at the World Wide Technology Championship, but he was later disqualified after the fact by the referee for violating the so-called provisional ball rule, Rule 18.3 (discussed at length here in this article).
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Golf,disqualified
What exactly happened? On hole No. 15 of his second round, Emilio Gonzalez sent his drive into an inhospitable desert area. He then played a provisional ball, right on the fairway, on this par 4 court. The first ball was found by spectators before the three-minute limit allowed (which we also discuss in this article).
But according to the referees who decided the disqualification, the player did not make the necessary effort to come and identify his first ball and continued to play his provisional. He scored bogey on this hole with this second ball.
Serious fault contrary to the spirit of the game
The rule says: "If the provisional ball has not become the ball in play and a ball is found that could be the original ball, the player must make every reasonable effort to identify that ball. If the player fails to do so, the Committee may disqualify the player under Rule 1.2a if it decides that it is a serious fault contrary to the spirit of the game."
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No doubt Emilio Gonzalez felt that he had a better chance of scoring better with his second ball, but since his first ball had not been declared lost, he therefore committed a fault. But this seems to be more of a blunder, a lack of knowledge of the rules, rather than an attempt at cheating, especially since the Mexican had little chance of making the cut at that moment.
He was eliminated. And therefore disqualified.
The Rules of Golf are a set of rules and standard procedures by which the sport of golf should be played. They are jointly written and administered by the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, the governing body of golf throughout the world, except in the United States and Mexico, which are governed by the United States Golf Association. An expert committee, made up of members of the R&A and the USGA, oversees and refines the Rules every four years. The latest revision was effective January 1, 2016. Changes to the Rules of Golf generally fall into two main categories: those that improve understanding of the Rules and those that reduce penalties in certain cases to ensure balance. The rulebook, entitled "The Rules of Golf," is published on a regular basis and also includes rules governing amateur status. In Italy, the Federgolf is responsible for supervising competitions by enforcing the rules issued by the R & A, checking that these rules are observed by the Clubs, Associations and their members and managing the resulting sporting justice, protecting their interests abroad.
