Peter Whiteford disqualified from the Avantha Masters for moving-ball incident – Golf News
Scotland’s Peter Whiteford, who led the first two rounds of the Avantha Masters, at DLF Golf and Country Club, was disqualified from the event on the final day because of the ball-moving incident on the final hole of his third round on Saturday.
Whiteford was playing his third shot on the 18th when he thought the ball rolled down a fraction.
For a confirmation, he asked his caddie, players standing beside him and the TV crew covering the event. He was then told that none of them saw the ball moving.
Therefore, he continued playing without replacing the ball. Moreover, he finished his round and signed his scorecard without entering the penalty for the ball movement.
However, when it was reviewed by the members of the Rules Committee, he was found guilty of signing a low score, as the ball really moved after it was addressed.
"Overnight several viewers contacted the Tour website. This was reviewed by the Rules Committee, who was able to determine that the ball had in fact moved. He should have incurred a penalty of one stroke and replaced the ball," European Tour chief referee,
John Paramor, said.
"As he did not do so, he was disqualified for signing for a score lower than taken for failing to include the penalty he had incurred," he informed.
"If he had contacted a member of the Rules Team before signing his scorecard, the footage would have been reviewed at the time and he would have averted the disqualification penalty," he added.
After the announcement of Whiteford’s disqualification, he looked really disappointed and said that he should have reviewed it at the time he felt it so.
In case of the review, he could have confirmed what others missed with a naked eye. He also defended himself by saying that he was not cheating at all as it happened unintentionally.
However, the incident was disappointing and damaged his morale of winning his first tournament on the European Tour.
It was more of a frustration than just a disqualification because he was contending for the top position with a single stroke behind the leader, Jbe Kruger.
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