A wild, retroactive rules penalty is called. And pro is denied playoff

Inhoi Hur during the 2021 Sony Open.Getty Images

Inhoi Hur stepped off the 18th hole at Namseoul Country Club thinking he was in a playoff.

Minutes later, he walked away two shots short of it.

What happened may be one of the wilder rules penalty sequences you’ll hear. At the GS Caltex Maekyung Open Golf Championship in South Korea, an event co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the Korean Tour, Hur was given a two-stroke penalty after Sunday’s final round due to a moment that occurred a day earlier, according to the Asian Tour — and the infraction dropped him from a tie for first to a tie for third.

The incident has been further reported by Tom Hobbs of the Flushing It X account (story here), Ryan French of the Monday Q Info website (story here) and Josh Ball of the South China Morning Post (story here), and it’s here where you should read those stories. Below is some of what they’ve reported:

– The moment came during Saturday’s third round and on Namseoul’s par-4 seventh hole, where Hur hit a tee shot right and potentially out of bounds. He then hit a provisional, which Hobbs reported finished in the fairway.

– A spotter found the first ball and, believing it was out of bounds, picked it up.

– Members of Hur’s gallery believed the ball was in play, according to Hobbs and French. Things became heated; French’s story reported that Hur’s gallery believed a playing partner’s caddie had picked up the ball. An official was called.

– After a lengthy talk, the official determined that Hur could treat the ball hit as the provisional as if it were his original ball. His next shot, then, would be his second. He finished with a par on the hole.