Why Pepperell was disqualified from Qatar Masters
Eddie Pepperell’s week at the Qatar Masters was cut short after he was disqualified for signing for a lower score than he actually scored on the 17th hole in his first round.
The Englishman was making his fourth start of the year, having made only one cut, and began his round at the 10th with a bogey. He dropped a further two shots on the 11th before settling down and picking up birdies on six of the next eight holes.
His second nine was no less eventful, with another double bogey along with two bogeys and two birdies.
But despite signing for a correct overall score of 71 there was a costly mix-up on the scorecard.
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Following his round, Pepperell took to Twitter to explain exactly what went wrong.
According to the 29-year-old, his playing partner, who was marking his card, had recorded a 5 on the 11th where he actually made a 6, and a 4 on the 16th where he actually made 3.
Pepperell correctly picked up on this but, while altering the score on the 16th, he accidentally changed the number on 17 instead.
He entered a par 4 at the 16th and a birdie 3 at the 17th. In fact, he birdied the 16th and parred the 17th. By recording a score lower than his actual on the penultimate hole, he was disqualified under the Rules of Golf.
Rule 3.3b (3), when considering a scorecard returned with a wrong score for a hole, states when the returned score is “lower than the actual score or no score returned. The player is disqualified.”
Had Pepperell written a number that was higher than the actual score, though, that higher returned score would have stood.
The Rules gives players and markers responsibility for their hole scores. The committee has responsibility for adding them up.
I picked him up on it and I changed the card to reflect the fact I actually made a 6 on hole 11 as opposed to a 5, and a 3 on hole 16 as opposed to a 4. I then however mistakenly changed the 17th hole(🤷🏼♂️🙈), not the 16th hole on my scorecard, and handed it in…
— Eddie Pepperell (@PepperellEddie) March 5, 2020
Pepperell addressed the ruling in his tweets, writing: “I 100% accept that, but I can’t help feeling that this particular way of disqualification is a fair distance away from common sense.”
The rules are the rules and I 100% accept that, but I can’t help feeling that this particular way of disqualification is a fair distance away from common sense, and that’s also disappointing. I enjoyed the course however and hopefully next time I’ll do a better job 👍
— Eddie Pepperell (@PepperellEddie) March 5, 2020
It is Pepperell’s second disqualification from European Tour action in just four months, after he was ejected from the Turkish Airlines field for running out of balls.
Is this rule fair? You can join our debate here or let us know on Twitter.
Joe Hughes
Tour editor covering men's golf, women's golf and anything else that involves the word golf, really. The talk is far better than the game, but the work has begun to change that.
