At the DP World Tour’s Nexo Championship in Scotland a couple of weeks ago, 27-year-old English pro Sam Bairstow withdrew after the first round under mysterious circumstances. Bairstow had signed for a 5 on the par-4 14th hole on Trump International Golf Links’ Old Course when he had, in fact, made a 7. When the error was brought to Bairstow’s attention — this was after he’d signed for a one-over 73 — he disqualified himself.
Scoring errors in the game’s highest ranks are unusual though certainly not unprecedented; among many other examples of the gaffe, Jordan Spieth was DQ’ed from the Genesis Invitational last year when, after his second round, he signed for a par at the par-3 4th instead of a bogey. (“I take full responsibility,” he later tweeted.) According to reports at the time, Bairstow’s miscalculation had been caused by a provisional tee shot he had hit on 14, but exactly what had transpired was unclear.
But on Friday a video that was obtained and shared by the Telegraph’s James Corrigan cast new light on Bairstow’s ouster.
The phone video, shot by a fan, shows Bairstow standing on a severely pitched lie on the 14th hole, with his ball well above his feet and propped atop gnarly rough. As Bairstow prepares to play his shot, his ball plainly moves, dropping into a worse lie in the long grass.
Given Bairstow’s actions seemingly had caused the ball to move, under the Rules of Golf he should have replaced the ball on its original resting spot and accepted a one-shot penalty. He didn’t. He played on from the ball’s new resting spot and made what he thought was a bogey 5.
According to Corrigan’s reporting, the fan shared the Bairstow video with DP Tour officials, who questioned Bairstow about the incident after his round. Bairstow, who is ranked 210th in the world, first denied any wrongdoing, Corrigan reported, but when presented with the footage he acquiesced and later DQ’ed himself.
That might have been the end of the story but it wasn’t, because, Corrigan reported, the video began circulating among players and caddies, who were none too impressed by Bairstow’s seemingly willful neglect for the rules.
That angst triggered a hearing by the DP World Tour, which, the tour said in a statement, found Bairstow “to be in breach of the DP World Tour’s Code of Behaviour and sanctioned accordingly. The player has a period of review to appeal the sanction.”
The Tour did not disclose the sanction, but Corrigan reported that Bairstow was fined a tour-maximum €25,000.
You may read the full Telegraph report here.
