Inhoi Hur walked off the 18th hole at Namseoul Country Club thinking he was in a playoff.
Minutes later, he was two shots away.
What happened may be one of the wildest penalty sequences you’ll hear. At the GS Caltex Maekyung Open Golf Championship in South Korea, an event co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the Korea Tour, Hur was penalized two strokes after Sunday’s final round because of a moment that happened the day before, according to the Asian Tour – and the offense dropped him from a tie for first to a tie for third.
The incident was further reported by Tom Hobbs of Flushing It Account X (history here), Ryan French i Monday Q Information website (history here) and Josh Ball i South China Morning Mail (story here), and this is where you should read those stories. Below are some of what they reported:
– The moment came during Saturday’s third round and on Namseoul’s par-4 seventh hole, where Hur hit a tee shot right and potentially out of bounds. He then hit a provisional, which Hobbs reported ended up in the fairway.
– A spotter found the first ball and, believing it to be out of bounds, picked it up.
– Members of Hur’s gallery believed the ball was in play, according to Hobbs and French. Things got heated; French’s story reported that Hur’s gallery believed a playing partner’s caddy had taken the ball. An official was called.
– After a lengthy discussion, the official ruled that Hur could treat the hit as provisional, as if it were his original ball. His next shot, then, would be second. He finished with a par on the hole.
– In Hobbs’ account, one player had this to say about what happened: “It’s f***ing bulls**t. He basically took a mulligan.”
– Then came Sunday’s final round, where Hur started tied for 11th. He then shot a 64, the lowest round of the day, and Hur, Minhyuk Song and Mingyu Cho all finished tied for first.
– Prior to the playoffs, the officials determined that Hur would be penalized retroactively for the two hits. From there, Hur lost the playoff and Song won it.
Hobbs’ story included a statement from Hur’s wife and an email sent by the Asian Tour to players explaining what happened. These are below.
Statement from Hur’s wife:
Email from Asian Tour:
Editor’s Note: To read the full Asian Tour story, please click here. To read Hobbs’ story, please click here. To read French’s story, please click here. To read Ball’s story, please click here.
