They say that when it rains, it pours. Something like this happened to David Puig this Sunday in the final round of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic. It was a bad day of golf for the Spanish golfer. He never quite felt comfortable at any point. He only hit two fairways all day and wasn’t sharp with specific shots like the third on the 13th, a wedge that ended up in the bunker. To make matters worse, beyond the fact that victory was out of reach against a solid Patrick Reed, he saw Andy Sullivan coming from behind and also snatching second place with a very good final nine holes. From the 13th, after the error with the third shot, nothing went his way. He had birdie chances on holes 14, 16, and 17, but no putt would drop, except for the par putt that slipped away on the 15th. Well, despite all this, which is a lot, the worst was yet to come.
Puig had one last birdie chance on the 18th hole that also didn’t go in after sending the second shot to the bunker, leaving the escape shot three metres away and, again, missing the putt. Everything went wrong. He finished with a par and a final score today of 73 strokes for a total of -9. Initially, he had finished third, but everything changed with a referee’s review that imposed a two-stroke penalty.
What happened is that the referee watching the television broadcast from the truck, in this case, former English player Graeme Storm, noticed that Puig brushed the sand when starting the backswing on his shot from the bunker on the 18th hole. They had to watch it several times. Then, he consulted with the chief referee at this Dubai event, Mark Litton, and they discussed it with David, who spent about 20 minutes on the matter just before signing the card. They showed him the footage and, obviously, Puig said he hadn’t noticed anything. For him, it was imperceptible.
Finally, watching it in slow motion and, above all, taking a screenshot before hitting the shot and at the moment of the backswing, a small mark is visible, likely caused by the belly of the wedge. The mark is minimal, almost imperceptible, and obviously gave no advantage to the Spanish golfer, but the rules of golf can also be very harsh. Or at least, their application… Storm demonstrated an eagle eye to notice something like this live… or he looked for it afterwards by going back and forth.
Be that as it may, Puig was punished with a very cruel two-stroke penalty and finished seventh instead of third with a total of 75 strokes today for an aggregate of -7. A major setback with which David, very upset, did not agree at all, although he had no choice but to accept it. With that decision, he lost nearly 250 points in the Race to Dubai, over 200,000 euros in earnings, and about 20 world ranking positions. Had he finished third and tied, this Monday he would be 73rd at best, while with the seventh tied with two, he will be positioned as best in 90th place, although it is likely to be slightly lower depending on what happens at The American Express.
As mentioned: a very cruel decision that capped off a very dark day for Puig. David confirmed to Ten Golf the penalty shortly after signing the card.
Here are the images of the before and after used by the DP World Tour to penalise Puig:
David was assessed a two-shot penalty for grounding his club in the bunker before taking his shot on 18. The rule is as follows:
12.2b
Restrictions on Touching Sand in Bunker
(1) When Touching Sand Results in Penalty. Before making a stroke at a ball in a bunker, a player must not:
• Deliberately touch sand in the bunker with a hand, club, rake or other object to test the condition of the sand to learn information for the next stroke, or
• Touch sand in the bunker with a club:
o In the area right in front of or right behind the ball (except as allowed under Rule 7.1a in fairly searching for a ball or under Rule 12.2a in removing a loose impediment or movable obstruction),
o In making a practice swing, or
o In making the backswing for a stroke.
