Pro denied PGA Tour card after being docked two strokes after his round

Shad Tuten loses out on his PGA Tour card in the cruelest of ways.

08 Oct 2023

Pro denied PGA Tour card after being docked two strokes after his round

Shad Tuten agonisingly lost out on earning his first PGA Tour card after being assessed a two-stroke penalty following the conclusion of his final round at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship.

Tuten's birdie on the par-5 15th was adjusted to a bogey as a result of taking an incorrect drop in the fairway.

Tuten's score was adjusted from a 2-over 74 to a 4-over 76 and it took him from 30th in the Points List, which would have ensured his PGA Tour card, to 32nd, which cost him his PGA Tour card.

Lift, clean and place was in effect at Victoria National Golf Club.

Only the American failed to follow the rules correctly as a Tour official outlines below.

Shad Tuten received a two-stroke penalty during the @tourchampulf for a failing to properly execute a proper lift clean & place of his ball. A +2 (74) turned into a +4 (76) which moved him from #30 to #32 in KFT Points. He won’t get his Tour card.
pic.twitter.com/8fmuHFL8Uw
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) October 8, 2023

According to the PGA Tour, the Rules official cited Local Rule for Preffered Lies (Model Local Rule E-3) in assessing the two-stroke penalty.

Jim Duncan, Korn Ferry Tour Vice President of Rules, Competitions and Administration, said:

"Well, there was a video of him trying to place his ball under the lift, clean and place local rule. I think it's pretty clear in the video that when he placed it one time, the ball rolled forward a little bit. Unfortunately that rule requires you to try to replace it on the exact same spot again, and then if it won't stay at rest that's when you find the nearest place that you do, just like any other rule that requires placing. When he did not try to place that ball right back on the same spot, that's when he was under penalty -- two shots for playing from the wrong place."

The top 30 players on the season-ending Korn Ferry Tour Points List, finalized after the Korn Ferry Tour Championship, earned 2024 PGA Tour Membership.

Rafael Campos made it in on the number at 30th, and you can see just how much he meant to him in the video below: