Bizarre rules blunder costs PGA Tour star at CJ Cup
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Davis Riley will be wishing the PGA Tour had left the rules as they were…
Davis Riley has become the first player to fall foul of the PGA Tour’s new rules that allow rangefinders in certain competitions.
With slow play once again one of the hottest topics in the game, the powers that be have decided the way to get the world’s finest round a bit quicker is to let them use distance measuring devices.
It’s a method that’s been tested on the second-tier Korn Ferry Tour, as well as the Champions Tour, Asian Tour, LET and LPGA, while the PGA of America have permitted the use of rangefinders in their events for a few years now.
The thought process is that it saves caddies time calculating yardages after wayward shots. And, at times, it can be useful.
One thing that’s not allowed, however, is the “adjusted slope” function that features on all new lasers that factors in the difference in elevation between your ball and your target.
Riley had just knocked his tee shot at TPC Craig Ranch’s par-3 17th – his eighth of the day – to 12 feet when he got that sinking feeling.
He said he must have accidentally hit the button to turn on the adjusted slope function while pulling the device from its case. But, as Riley said afterwards, “this is a game of integrity, so play with it and act that way”.
The 28-year-old two-time PGA Tour champion alerted officials to the blunder and he was penalized two shots.
Riley pulled himself together to make the cut at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson thanks to an eagle at the 9th – his 18th – which certainly helped his mood.
“I love this game,” he added. “And that’s one of the beautiful things about this game is the integrity all of us PGA Tour players and golfers uphold that standard to ourselves.”
On the mistake, he said: “It was just kind of one of those moments where your heart sinks a little bit, like you’re just throwing away two shots.
“It is what it is. That’s the rules of golf. And we certainly have a trial period here with this, and I know the USGA is trying to do something about the range finder and the pace of play. “I don’t know if there’s a way around it and a different angle to look at it, but, yeah, it was just a bad break. I’m just happy the way I rallied.”
Riley ended up finishing in a tie for 45th, meaning the mistake ended up costing him around $20,000.
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Davis Riley became the first player to fall foul of the PGA Tour's new rangefinder rules.
