Golf pro receives brutal seven-shot penalty before going on to lose by two shots

Anthony Quayle was left to rue a monumental error of judgement after he suffered a brutal seven-shot penalty before going on to lose by two shots at the Victorian PGA Championship. 

Quayle, 30, called the penalties on himself during the first round where he illegally took preferred lies on four different shots.

As soon as the Queenslander realised his errors, he told the PGA of Australia he was 'embarrassed to have made such a rookie mistake'. 

Quayle made the first of his four mistakes on the 15th green in the first round on the Moonah Links at the Open Course. 

"It’s a mistake that’s totally on me and I totally own it," said Quayle. 

During the first round, Quayle, who typically plays the majority of his golf over in Japan, was asked by his playing partner Tyler McCumber whether preferred lies were in play.

Quayle answered: "Yes they are, I’ve been doing it all day."

McCumber was then penalised two shots as well for playing from a preferred lie. 

According to a document submitted by PGA of Australia, preferred lies were only allowed on a portion of the third fairway.

Quayle thought it was the whole course. 

Tournament Director Heath McLeod told Quayle that he would be penalized two strokes for hitting from the wrong place on three of his shots, and one stroke for the other (because he replaced the ball in the same place, just a few centimetres off the green).

The Australian's opening 6-under 66 was therefore shrunk to a 1-over 73. 

To Quayle's credit he rallied thereafter with rounds of 67, 66 and 69 to finish the week on 12-under par.

That was unfortunately just two shots shy of the winner Cory Crawford. 

At one stage in the final round, Quayle was tied for the lead. 

Quayle won $17,500 for his week's efforts, but had he not suffered the seven-shot penalty he would have coasted home for the victory and won another $27,500. 

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Quayle was ranked just outside the top 600 ahead of this week's tournament. 

Tournament director McLeod said of Quayle ahead of the final round: "We’re proud of how Anthony’s handled it. As soon as he realised his mistake, he’s called me over, and went through it out at No. 15 green.

"He took responsibility for his actions straight away and we worked through the four separate occasions he had breached the rules and he accepted the penalty without any fuss.

"It’s just shows the character of Anthony really. To have something like that happen on Thursday, to put it behind him and come out and play some great golf the last two days is great to see."

Despite the disappointment, Quayle left the tournament taking positives from the fact he surged to finish solo third. 

"After I had a bit of time to process what happened on Thursday night, I sort of grew the opinion that ‘let’s treat this as a bit of a challenge and see what we can do," he said.

Quayle also finished T3 at the BMW Australian PGA Championship last month, the first event of the 2025 DP World Tour season. 

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