Pro Tour WD’d’d’d’d’d on the new rule debate: ‘Inadvertently cheated’

PGA Tour veteran Sam Ryder ran into a brand new rule PGA Tour pros are up against for the first time this year in a Qualifier last Monday.

Ahead of the 2026 Valspar Championship, Ryder was seemingly in cruise control when he suddenly pulled out of qualifying mid-round.

The reason? The 36-year-old pro realized that he had “unintentionally cheated” throughout the round, as he explained. to Ryan French on the “Any Given Monday” podcast..

Sam Ryder explains how breaking the new PGA Tour rule led to WD

In his long career on the PGA Tour, Ryder has competed in 234 events and made 132 cuts. He’s earned $10,630,603 on the course for his troubles, and while he’s never won a Tour event, he does have a Korn Ferry Tour victory on his resume.

But because of one poor finish in the FedEx Cup standings last yearRyder has only partial PGA Tour eligibility for 2026. He played four Tour events earlier in the season, but when the Valspar Championship rolled around, he didn’t have a spot in the field.

So he decided to try to play his way into the tournament through the Monday Qualifier.

But as he described on the “Any Given Monday” podcast, Ryder’s round went sideways, not because he was playing poorly, but because he was breaking one of the Tour’s new rules for 2026.

“I was kind of embarrassed to say it, but last week I did Monday (qualifying) at Brooksville (for the Valspar Championship) and I got pulled because I actually accidentally cheated,” Ryder began.

By “inadvertently cheated,” Ryder really means that he accidentally broke a new PGA Tour rule. This new rule includes regulations for lift, clearance and putting, or preferred lies. Previously, when the preferred lie rules were in place, a Tour professional was allowed to drop within one club length of his original spot after clearing the ball. But with the rule change, one of six endorsed on the PGA Tour this seasonplayers are only given the length of their scorecard, about 11 inches, for the free fall.

In Monday’s Valspar qualifier, Ryder forgot about the switch and played by the old drop rules.

“Because it was lift, clean and place, and they changed the rule this year, which I knew was completely my fault, but I hadn’t played lift, clean and putt under the new rule yet. And I played nine holes and I was three under and I was kind of sailing ahead. I think six under got ahead. I was playing well and I realized I hadn’t made the biggest drive shot.” “So it didn’t really win anything for me, but I definitely knew there were some situations where… so I backed off.”

“So I was kind of upset about that,” he continued. “I finished working, I came in.”

As he noted, Ryder was fortunate enough to make the Valspar Championship field despite giving up his opportunity in Monday’s Qualifier. When Akshay Bhatia withdrew Wednesday before the first round, Ryder took his place in the field.