Estes hit with DQ as Pro-Am rule strikes again

Bob Estes has four PGA Tour wins to his name, has made the cut in all 40 starts on the PGA Tour Champions, and up until now had not been disqualified in his career.

That changed on Wednesday when he was hit with a DQ from the Invesco QQQ Championship before a ball had been struck at Sherwood Golf Club in California.

The area has been subjected to some devastating wildfires and there have been safety warnings issued. But the course is still playable and the tournament looks to be going ahead.

With the warnings in place Estes decided to delay his travel to the event and this meant he would be missing his tee time in the Pro-Am.

As per the Tour’s rules, he was disqualified from the event proper.

Estes had planned to fly out to the tournament from Texas on Wednesday morning but decided to wait until the threat of fire had passed from the area.

Just got DQed for the first time in my career. I made the decision to stay in Austin until the fire threat in Thousand Oaks had passed but because I missed my pro-am T time, I won’t be allowed to play. It still might turn out to be a wise decision but hopefully, no more fires.

— Bob Estes (@BobEstesPGA) October 30, 2019

Replying to one Twitter user, he later revealed he was aware of the rule.

I did.

— Bob Estes (@BobEstesPGA) October 30, 2019

Estes isn’t the first to fall foul of this ruling but on previous occasions the reasons behind missing the tee times have been a little less justifiable.

The rule was introduced in 2004 and a year later Retief Goosen was disqualified from the Nissan Open when he overslept and missed his Pro-Am slot.

Jim Furyk also overslept and failed to make his Pro-Am at the 2010 Barclays, leading to a crucial DQ when in the hunt for FedEx Cup glory.

Earlier this season, Estes had his long-standing record for the most consecutive rounds in the 60s on the PGA Tour broken by Viktor Hovland.