Adam Scott incurred a two-shot penalty for playing the wrong ball during the opening round at Doral. Fortunately, he found his original ball and avoided disqualification.
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Ten years removed from winning the WGC-Cadillac Championship in the PGA Tour’s last visit to Doral Resort, Adam Scott returned this week to the Blue Monster as an “honorary” defending champion. The Miami resort that had hosted a popular tour event for more than five decades was added back to the schedule this year for the first time since 2016 with a “new” Cadillac signature event.
Scott’s fond memories of his last appearance at Doral, however, were muted during Thursday’s opening round, when the 45-year-old Aussie made a costly rules blunder. After two birdies offset by two bogeys on his opening seven holes, Scott pulled his tee shot into the rough on the par-5 eighth hole. He played his second shot out of the gnarly lie but when he was preparing for his third, he realized the ball that he hit wasn’t actually his.
Playing the wrong ball is a violation of Rule 6.3 and comes with a two-shot penalty. Thankfully for Scott, when he returned to the spot where he believed his original drive landed he managed to find that ball. From there, he played what counted as his fourth shot, putting his ball back in the fairway. He then hit the green from 147 yards with his fifth shot and two-putted from 15 feet for a double-bogey 7.
While Scott was upset with transpired, it could have been worse. Had he not realized he had played a wrong ball, played out the hole with it and proceeded to tee off on the next hole, he would have been subject for disqualification. As our rules expert Ron Kaspriske pointed out in an edition of his weekly Rules Review department that focused on how to proceed after hitting a wrong ball, Rule 6.3 specifies that a player who plays a wrong ball must correct the mistake by going back and playing your ball to finish the hole.
And what would have happened if Scott, after becoming aware of hitting a wrong ball, couldn’t find his original ball in the rough? He would have had to play under the rules for a lost ball, adding another penalty stroke and proceeding back to the tee box, where he would have been hitting his fifth shot.
Scott proceeded to make eight straight pars after the blunder,
More From Golf Digest
Adam Scott received a two-shot penalty for playing the wrong ball during his opening round at Doral.
Playing the wrong ball results in a two-shot penalty, and if not corrected, it can lead to disqualification.
Scott avoided disqualification by realizing he played the wrong ball before teeing off on the next hole and subsequently finding his original ball.
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