PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — Just hours after the Genesis Invitational lost Tiger Woods to an illness-related WD on Friday afternoon, another PGA Tour superstar followed suit.
Jordan Spieth was disqualified from the event on Friday afternoon, the PGA Tour’s communications team said, after signing an incorrect scorecard during Friday’s 2-over 73 round. According to the Tour, Spieth signed for a three on the 4th hole when he actually made a four.
“Today, I signed for an incorrect scorecard and stepped out of the scoring area, after thinking I went through all procedures to make sure it was correct,” Spieth wrote on X on Friday night. “Rules are rules, and I take full responsibility. I love this tournament and golf course as much as any on @PGATOUR so it hurts to not have a run at the weekend. Really appreciated the support in LA.”
Spieth appeared to be in a rush after completing his second round at Riviera Country Club Friday afternoon, sprinting up the steps on the 18th hole and into the clubhouse, where he was not seen for some time after. The rush might have had something to do with his eventual DQ from the tournament, a situation fellow pro Dylan Wu noted only could have happened if Spieth had failed to double-check his math.
“Amazes me how often this happens in pro golf. Math is hard….I guess,” Wu posted on X. “Takes 5 seconds for the Tour officials to read your scores back and for you to check them. Hot take but this is equivalent to forgetting to write your name down on a test lol.”
It’d been a uniquely Spiethian brand of up-and-down golf at the Genesis on Friday — a round that featured four birdies, four bogeys and a double. On the 4th hole, a long par-3, Spieth made bogey after missing a four-footer for par. On the 5th hole, a par-4, Spieth stuck his approach close and made a brilliant birdie. Of course, it’s difficult to say what caused his incorrect score on the 4th (and subsequent DQ) without hearing from the man himself, but it’s not difficult to see how that collection of birdies and bogeys might have aided the gaffe.
Spieth’s departure from the tournament marks an unfortunate development for the three-time major champ, particularly after a tournament-opening 65 on Thursday pushed him toward the top of the leaderboard. His second-round 73 dashed his tournament hopes some, leaving him 10 strokes back of tournament leader (and playing partner) Patrick Cantlay at 13 under. But still, until he turned in his card in at the scorer’s table, Spieth was in line to at least make the cut and earn a piece of the tournament’s $20 million purse, where even a last-place finish would net $32,000.
The DQ marks the second in the last four years for Spieth (and first in a full-field PGA Tour event). He was bumped from the JP McManus Pro-Am in 2023 for scooping his ball from the green before holing out. At the Hero World Challenge in 2021, he narrowly avoided a DQ for playing the wrong tees, and was instead assessed a rarely enforced two-shot penalty.
