In rarely seen time situation, LIV pro hit with penalty, is nearly booted

Scott Vincent knew the time. After all, a day earlier, he’d let his Instagram followers know.  

“Asian Tour International Series Morocco,” the post to his stories showed. 

“Royal Golf Dar Es Salam (Red Course).” 

“Scott Vincent, Eugenio Chacarra, Jazz Janewattananond.”

And in the upper left-hand corner?

“Tee off 12:30 p.m. Hole #1.” 

Only Vincent reported at about 12:34 and 30 seconds.

As first reported by the Asian Tour’s Twitter account, the sequence led to a rarely seen penalty and a near disqualification for the LIV Golf pro during the event’s first round. The ruling is spelled out in Rule 5.3, which, in part, reads this way:

“A player’s round starts when the player makes a stroke to start their first hole (see Rule 6.1a). The player must start at (and not before) their starting time: This means that the player must be ready to play at the starting time and starting point set by the Committee; a starting time set by the Committee is treated as an exact time (for example, 9 am means 9:00:00 am, not any time until 9:01 am).

“If the starting time is delayed for any reason (such as weather, slow play of other groups or the need for a ruling by a referee), there is no breach of this Rule if the player is present and ready to play when the player’s group is able to start.

“Penalty for Breach of Rule 5.3a: Disqualification, except in these three cases: Exception 1 – Player Arrives at Starting Point, Ready to Play, No More Than Five Minutes Late: The player gets the general penalty applied to their first hole; Exception 2 – Player Starts No More Than Five Minutes Early: The player gets the general penalty applied to their first hole; Exception 3 – Committee Decides that Exceptional Circumstances Prevented Player from Starting on Time: There is no breach of this Rule and no penalty.”

In this case, Vincent was docked with a two-stroke penalty under “exception 1” — and he was 30 seconds short of being DQ’d. 

But why was he late?

Notably, another post to his Instagram account may have given a clue. On it, he was seen earlier in the week playing a hole at the tournament site — but the post noted he was doing so with rental clubs. There had been an airport issue. On Thursday, the Asian Tour’s Twitter site noted that Vincent had traveled to Casablanca — about an hour’s drive away — to get his clubs, only not to find them, and he played with rentals again. 

There is good news, though. 

After an opening double bogey due to the penalty, Vincent played seven-under-par golf from there, and he was two strokes off the lead. 

One more question:

Have players missed tee times and played on under the 5-minute exception? It’s rare. Most, of course, try to avoid a penalty before even hitting a ball, and there are a few examples of players simply not showing up at all. 

Then there’s the story of Lucas Glover from February, which you can read by clicking here, or by scrolling below. Its headline read: “Because of wild misread, major winner withdraws from Phoenix Open.”

***

Eight o’clock. And no Lucas Glover. 

Eight-fifteen. And no Lucas Glover. 

Eight-twenty-five. 

Where’s Lucas Glover?

That was approximately the scene Thursday at TPC Scottsdale. Lucas Glover, your 2009 U.S. Open winner, was to start play at the Waste Management Phoenix Open at 8:26 a.m. local time off tee No. 1, only that was apparently news to Glover. But he had a story. 

According to Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard, Glover said he got a call from an official around 8:25 letting him know of his plight. He had never missed a Tour tee time before, according to Hoggard. But Glover then came clean. 

“I just mis-read my text messages [that listed my tee time],” Glover told Hoggard. “I’m kicking myself but laughing at myself at the same time.”

There’s some good news, though. 

Glover withdrew. He didn’t have to. He also could have not answered the phone. But he did. So Ryo Hisatsune was in in his place.

News

It’s here where you may have some questions, like: 

— Is there a rule that covers missed tee times?

Yes. For your friends foursome, you get some words. For an event such as the Phoenix Open, you may get one — disqualification. Rule 5.3 reads this way:

“You must start at (and not before or after) your starting time. Penalty for Breach of Rule 5.3a: Disqualification.”

Notably, there are exceptions. They read this way:

“Exception 1 – You Arrive at Starting Point, Ready to Play, No More Than Five Minutes Late: The general penalty is applied to your first hole. Exception 2 – You Start No More Than Five Minutes Early: The general penalty is applied to your first hole. Exception 3 – Committee Decides that Exceptional Circumstances Prevented You from Starting on Time: There is no breach of this Rule and no penalty.”

— Has it happened before?

Yes, mistakes happen. 

On a quick scan, a similar occurrence happened at the 2021 U.S. Senior Open, where Marcus Meloan didn’t return after a three-hour storm delay, and Rule 5.3 was applied. On the Golf Channel broadcast at the time, USGA rules official Ben Schade said this:

“Following that restart, we did have a player that was late to resume,” Schade said on the Golf Channel broadcast. “So resumption times, they work very much the same as a starting time that we would have at the beginning of our round where we need to be ready to play within five minutes of that time, no later than five minutes of that time, to avoid disqualification. 

“If we’re within that five-minute time, we would get a two-stroke penalty, and he can play on. So in Marcus’ case, he was not ready to play within that five-minute window of his resumption time, so he was disqualified from the competition.”