Tour pro explains reason for Farmers DQ, and it'll make you respect him even more
Mike Mulholland
On Thursday, Bank of Utah Championship winner Michael Brennan was disqualified from the Farmers Insurance Open. In a statement, the PGA Tour said it was for a breach of Model Local Rule G-11 because he used “non-permitted green-reading materials,” without providing further detail, which left much to the imagination.
Imagination runs rampant on social media, where some pointed out that this particular MLR comes with a two-stroke penalty for the first infraction and disqualification for the second. This must have meant that Brennan knowingly doubled-down on his original mistake. Not quite.
On Friday, Brennan took to Instagram to clear the air, posting a lengthy explanation on his page via the notes app. In it, the Wake Forest alum explains that he began working with a new course data analyst earlier this week in an effort to improve his course strategy. The night before each round, Brennan's analyst sent the hole locations on green maps to help him plan out his approach shots.
"While looking at the green maps, I sketched a few arrows," Brennan wrote. "After completion of my round, I asked [the data analyst] for clarification of a feature on the green maps."
It was then that the analyst informed Brennan that he wasn't able to transcribe any details on the greens from his diagram into Brennan's yardage book. Once Brennan heard this, he knew something was wrong.
"I reached out a PGA Tour rules official, reporting my mistake, and was subsequently disqualified from the golf tournament," Brennan said.
Based off this explanation, Brennan was unknowingly playing with a non-conforming yardage book for his entire first round on the North Course (he shot an even-par 72). Once he realized this and reported himself, it was far too late to receive the general two-stroke penalty for one infraction, so he was DQ'd.
Brennan, who is being showered with praise in his Instagram comment section for coming clean, called it a "painful" lesson to learn, but the 23-year-old can hold his head high knowing he did the right thing. He'll be back in action at next week's Waste Management Phoenix Open, where he'll be making his debut.