PGA Tour golf star Emilio Gonzalez was disqualified from his home country’s signature tournament this week for a rare ‘serious misconduct’ rules violation.
The Mexican was in the middle of his second round at the World Wide Technology Championship on Friday when the bizarre circumstances unfolded, ultimately leading to him being booted out of the competition.
On the 15th hole, the 27-year-old hit his tee shot into a desert area to the side of the fairway, and opted to play a provisional second from the tee box.
He then went to search for the original, and found a ball in the rough, but tournament chiefs decided that he had ‘failed to make reasonable efforts to identify the ball’ within the allotted three-minute time, before going on to play the provisional.
In the rules, it states: ‘If the provisional ball has not become the ball in play and a ball is found that might be the original ball, the player must make all reasonable efforts to identify that ball.
Emilio Gonzalez was disqualified from the World Wide Technology Championship in Mexico
Gonzalez poses while on vacation with his long-term girlfriend Fernanda (left)
‘If the player fails to do so, the Committee may disqualify the player under Rule 1.2a if it decides that this was serious misconduct contrary to the spirit of the game.’
PGA Tour chiefs decided that Gonzalez’s decision to leave the original ball and go and play his provisional from the fairway was against the rules, using their powers to disqualify him from the tournament.
He went on to make a bogey five on the hole, and carded a one-under-par 71 for the round.
It is extremely rare for a PGA Tour player to be disqualified from an event, but it does happen on occasion – with Jordan Spieth also feeling the wrath of the powers-that-be back in February.
He was disqualified after the second round of the Genesis Invitational for signing an incorrect scorecard, when he fell ill and rushed off to the bathroom after coming off the course.
He signed for a par on the fourth hole at Riviera when he had in fact missed a five-foot putt and holed out for a bogey five, leading to the officials kicking him out.
A similar offense to Gonzalez’s has only occurred on the LPGA Tour this season, and even that was slightly different to this example.
The desert area on the 15th hole was a problem for many of the players on Friday (pictured)
Gonzalez gets a kiss on his cheek from girlfriend Fernanda in a recent pic posted to Instagram
Back in June, Nasa Hataoka was DQ’d from the Shoprite LPGA Classic when it was deemed she had spent longer than the allotted three minutes searching for a lost ball, despite having 12 people help her look.
The decision to disqualify him was only made after the round had concluded, and Gonzalez was two shots below the cut line and already missing out on the weekend’s action before he was told.
Speaking to the media after the tournament, but before he found out he was being penalized for his rule break, the Mexican said: ‘It was a week of many emotions.’
Fortunately for Gonzalez, he was not docked any of his earnings – and he will go on to play in next month’s PGA Tour Q School, where he has the chance to earn a promotion to the main Tour if he can finish in the top five.
