Oddball ruling on Asian Tour knocks golfer out of playoff a day later

Inhoi Hur had a putt to win the tournament. He wasn't even involved in the sudden-death playoff a few moments later after a day-long rules kerfuffle that began in the third round of the Asian Tour's Maekyung Open in Korea.

Following a fourth-round charge up the leaderboard, the Korean Hur had a birdie putt to win Sunday, or so he thought. Ultimately, Hur was penalized for a chaotic incident that happened Saturday on the seventh hole in which a drive that was possibly out of bounds and the ensuing penalty were basically ignored on the scorecard.

After hitting a tee shot Saturday that he believed to be out of bounds then hitting a provisional tee shot, a forecaddie picked up Hur's first ball. Fans of Hur argued that the first ball was in bounds, and rules officials told Hur to play his provisional while the mess was sorted out. Hur instead should have been instructed to replace the ball for his first tee shot after it was picked up. With the on-course officials' sanction, he continued to play the provisional – which isn't how the rules governing provisional balls should have been applied – and he signed for a par on the hole as if the first tee shot and ensuing penalty for a ball out of bounds had never happened.

Tournament officials changed their minds Sunday, and he was notified that his third-round score was being altered to include the first tee shot and the ensuing one-shot penalty for being out of bounds.

As Flushing It and Asian news organizations reported Sunday morning, it's a wild story that involves Hur's wife defending him on social media, a 30-minute backup that held up play in the third round and a penalty assessed more than 24 hours after signing his third-round scorecard.

"The forecaddie/spotter then picked up the original ball because it was judged OB, and handed it to his playing partner’s caddie," Flushing It posted on social media. "But the gallery, who were all there in support of Inhoi, argued that the ball was in bounds and a referee had to be called. One eyewitness said it was 'very animated,' and several rules officials then had to come to the scene to help calm the situation.

"After around 30 minutes of heated discussion and the group behind being called through, the Chief Referee judged there was conflicting information and applied Committee Procedures Section 6C(6), which somehow meant Inhui played the provisional ball temporarily without penalty until a decision was made. But what should have happened, is the original ball should have been replaced and a decision made from there. Inhui finished the hole with his provisional ball and signed for a par and a 3rd round 69 to be just outside the top 10."