Lydia Ko docked SEVEN penalty strokes after shocking error on LPGA Tour!
LPGA Tour star Lydia Ko was penalised seven strokes!
LPGA Tour star Lydia Ko was docked an incredible seven strokes after she improperly played preferred lies during the final round of the Dana Open at Highland Meadows Golf Club in Ohio.
Ko, 26, would end up carding a 7-over 78 as a result of her penalty strokes and she would finish well down the field in a tie for 65th.
Preferred lies were in place for players in the final round but only on holes 1 and 10 as a result of heavy rain in the area.
Ko unfortunately preferred her lies on holes 3, 7 and 9, and she ended up lifting her ball on hole 11 before she was notified of her wrongdoing in the final round of the LPGA Tour event.
"For the final round of the 2023 Dana Open, preferred lies were in effect on Nos. 1 and 10 only," an LPGA spokesperson told Golf Digest.
"On Lydia Ko's 11th hole, a rules official was notified that Ko had preferred her lies on Nos. 3, 7 and 9. On holes 3, 7 and 9, she did not replace the ball back on the original spot. Therefore, Ko played from a wrong place on each of those holes, which is in breach Rule 14.7a. Her scorecard was adjusted to reflect those two-stroke penalties. In total, three two-stroke penalties were applied.
"On her 11th hole, Ko's ball was lifted and she then called for a ruling. The ball was put back on the original spot, therefore only a one-stroke penalty was applied in accordance with Rule 9.4b."
Ko teed it up in the Dana Open without her regular caddie David Jones.
Instead, a member of her coaching team, Ted Oh, was on her bag for the tournament.
Ko's T65 continues her recent wretched run of form having now not finished inside the top 30 in an LPGA Tour event since her first start of the year in February.
Sweden's Linn Grant won the tournament by three stokes on 21-under par.
Jin Young Ko remains out in front as the World No.1, with Nelly Korda maintaining her spot in second following her emphatic four-stroke victory at the Aramco Team Series London at Centurion Club on Sunday.
