PALM HARBOR, Fla. – Scott Harrington was disqualified from the Valspar Championship after the second round for signing an incorrect scorecard.
The DQ was a mere formality as Harrington, 40, had shot 1-over 72, which combined with his opening-round 4-over 75, would have been several shots too many in order to stick around and play on the week. Still, it continues to be confounding why signing an incorrect scorecard (Rule 6-6d) is still treated as if it’s the early 20th century when in today’s day and age every shot is measured by ShotLink and most likely recorded. It’s almost equally hard to explain why players continue to make scoring mistakes.
Jimmy Walker nearly joined Harrington as a DQ. He was penalized two strokes for being late to his 7:39 am tee time in Group 44 on Friday (Rule 5.3A).
Walker, whose last victory on the PGA Tour is the 2016 PGA Championship, was on the range when a rules official notified him that he had one minute to get to the first tee. He arrived too late.
Had Walker arrived more than five minutes late, he would have been disqualified. Walker had to add two strokes to his score on the par-5 first hole, turning a 5 into a double-bogey 7. He rallied with five birdies in his final 13 holes to sign for 2-under 69 and made the cut on the number at 1-under 141 at Innisbrook’s Copperhead Course.
On social media, he posted: “Pro tip….don’t be late for your tee time. Thirty years in tourney golf and that’s a first…”
