Rules of Golf
Tour pro DQ'd in Mexico for this unusual violation of provisional ball rule
Emilio Gonzalez plays a shot during the second round of the World Wide Technology Championship.
Orlando Ramirez
It was set up to be a dream week for Mexico’s Emilio Gonzalez. The 27-year-old who played college golf at St. Mary’s was awarded an exemption into this week’s World Wide Technology Championship, played in his home country at El Cardonal at Diamante in Cabo San Lucas. Gonzalez, who played 25 events this year on the Korn Ferry Tour, had competed in only one other PGA Tour event—this year’s Houston Open, where he impressively made the cut and tied for 74th.
In the WWTC, Gonzalez opened with a one-over-par 73 and appeared to follow up with a 71 on Friday that included five birdies. At even par, Gonzalez was not going to make the cut that came at two under. Afterwards, he told a Mexican TV network in Spanish, “It was as week of many emotions.”
That would truer than ever a while later. Sometime after Gonzalez signed his card and spoke to the media, tour rules officials determined that he would be disqualified “due to a breach of Rule 18.3 (Provisional Ball).”
According to an account by the PGA Tour (there is no ShotLink available on-site this week), Gonzalez hit his tee shot into a desert area on the par-4 15th. He then played a provisional ball, and, according to the tour, a “brief” search was made for the original ball. A ball was found within the three-minute time limit, but the tour said Gonzalez failed to make a “reasonable effort” to identify the ball once it was found and continued to play the provisional. He eventually made a bogey 5.
To not be penalized and disqualified, Gonzalez needed to clearly determine whether the found ball was his or not.
Clearly, it was a rules gaffe by Gonzalez. If there was any upside, he didn’t lose any money, and Gonzalez has a big date with PGA Tour Q School Finals in December.
“It’s a matter to keep improving in the direction I’m going,” Gonzalez said before the DQ. “I think I’m doing things right, trust my process and polishing my game on the green and around the green.”
And maybe polish up on the rules, too.
For more from Golf Digest on provisional ball rules, click here.