PGA Tour dreams dashed after moving ball 3 centimeters

A U.S. golfer lost his PGA Tour card in the final round of the season finale of the U.S. Professional Golf Association’s (PGA) Confederation Tour when he dropped his ball three centimeters off the mark.

Shadow Tuttle (USA) shot a 4-over-par 76 and finished tied for 28th in the final round of the Confederation Tour Championship in Indiana, USA, on Sept. 9, according to CNN.

Tutin, who finished the season ranked 32nd in the Confederation Tour points standings, failed to earn a PGA Tour card for next year, which is awarded to the top 30 players.

But for two bogeys on the par-5 15th hole, Tutin would have finished tied for 19th and would have moved into the top 30 on the Confederation Tour points list.

The two penalties changed Tutin’s fortunes.

Tutin’s penalty was for carelessness.

The final round was a “free-for-all,” where players were allowed to pick up their balls, wipe them, and then put them back down. The course was wet from the rain and the ball had gotten very muddy.

On the fairway of the 15th hole, he picked up his ball, wiped it off, and put it back down, but it rolled slightly to the right of where it had been.

He had to pick it up again, put it back in place, and hit it, but he hit it anyway.

This caught the attention of a tournament committee member who was watching the match on a TV monitor.

Jim Duncan, Vice President of Competition Operations and Rules on the Confederation Tour, said: “When he first put the ball down, it moved, and that’s when you put the ball back in play, and he didn’t do that. We had no choice but to penalize him for the misplay,” he told NBC.

The 31-year-old Tutin, who has been dreaming of making the PGA Tour since turning pro in 2015, playing on the Confederation Tour and the Latin American Tour, had his PGA Tour card nearly snatched away in a single mistake.

He declined to speak to the media, 굿모닝토토

but his fellow players didn’t hide their feelings, saying, “I’m heartbroken, too,” CNN reported.