A Korn Ferry Tour rookie’s debut lasted just 10 holes on Sunday at the Bahamas Great Exuma Classic. That’s when John Lyras, a 27-year-old Australian who has conditional status, was informed that his tournament was over.
He had been disqualified.
According to a KFT media official – and first reported by Monday Q Info – Lyras teed off on No. 10 to begin his opening round at Sandals Emerald Bay Golf Club. He hit his drive, and then his next shot found the water – or so Lyras thought. He dropped another ball, only for one of his playing competitors, who was closer to the green, to find Lyras’ original ball in play.
So, Lyras picked up the dropped ball and would eventually make bogey with his first ball.
Later on his first nine, Lyras realized he’d made a mistake, and a rules official was first notified, per the media official, with Lyras’ group walking to the 18th hole, their ninth of the day.
Initially, the rules official was unsure of the penalty, but after getting clarification, Lyras was disqualified because he didn’t play out the hole with his substituted ball, which was in play once he dropped it, and didn’t correct his mistake before teeing off on the next hole. Here is the full explanation from the KFT:
Under Rule 6.3b(2), the player having put another (substituted) ball into play with knowledge/virtual certainty at the time, was required to continue playing with the substituted ball. Further, this Rule explicitly states that the player must not play the original ball (including if it is found on the course before the end of the 3-minute search time).
By incorrectly proceeding with the original ball, the player has played from a wrong place (Rule 14.7a) and is subject to penalty. Having played from a wrong place, the player must decide (Rule 14.7b) whether to play out the hole with the ball played from the wrong place, or correct the mistake by playing from the right place. The player must correct the mistake by playing out the hole with a ball played from a right place under the Rules. In this situation, as the player did not correct the mistake before making a stroke to begin the next (11th) hole, the player is disqualified.
Under these circumstances, the player was obligated to correct the mistake/serious breach by playing a ball from the place in which he had correctly substituted and dropped 130 yards away from the green when he proceeded under Rule 17.1c.
Under Rule 14.7b(1), the outcome could have resulted in a lesser (two-stroke) penalty by correcting the mistake, returning to play from the right place and doing so before making a stroke to begin play of the next hole. However, because the player played from the teeing ground on the next hole, the window to correct his mistake had lapsed and, unfortunately, the breach results in a penalty of disqualification.
Lyras was 2 under through 10 holes at the time of his disqualification.
“Amazing what happens when you’re super excited and anxious all together,” Lyras later posted on social media. “You make stupid and quick decisions that can cost you so much, everything you worked for.”
Lyras fell a shot shy of guaranteed starts at the final stage of Q-School last month, though he’d squeaked into the season-opening field. As for next week’s second Bahamas event, in Abaco, Monday Q Info reported that Lyras was the 11th alternate as of Sunday evening.