Jordan Spieth has been disqualified from The Genesis Invitational due to a scorekeeping error.
Spieth fired a two-over 73 at Riviera on Friday. While he failed to build on the five-under 66 he shot in the opening round, Spieth’s score of three-under for the tournament placed him in a tie for 20th, well within the cutline. But after the round was complete, it was announced that Spieth had been disqualified.
While Spieth bogeyed the par-three fourth hole, a par was written on his scorecard. At the end of the round, Spieth failed to notice the mistake and signed an incorrect scorecard. Once that was discovered, he was disqualified.
Jordan Spieth has been disqualified from The Genesis Invitational for signing for an incorrect scorecard.
Spieth signed for a 3 and made a 4 on No. 4.
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) February 17, 2024
There was a frustrated reaction to this.
Every shot on tour has cameras on it and there are dozens of witnesses. Knowing that, golf fans couldn’t help but wonder why keeping a scorecard is still a part of the tour.
A) This is on Spieth because he knows the rule but …
B) What is the point of this rule? What other sport does this? There is real-time scoring. We all know what everyone shoots.
C) Forcing golfers to hit from a divot on fairway is dumb, too. https://t.co/Q4rPSWnnnr
— Jay Posner (@JayPosnerSD) February 17, 2024
Most stupid rule in golf. We got 100 people checking scores and keeping track. Keep it computerized to verify. You don’t see nba players keeping their own score it’s done by one person. Spieth would never do that on purpose to cheat. https://t.co/uSrm5Aj6s7
— Cole Hahn (@cthahn21) February 17, 2024
Why are we still DQ’ing in 2024?
Just fucking change it and move on. If you feel it necessary give him a 2 stroke penalty and get bent
My word, could Golf ever come into the new century? For the love of god https://t.co/N077FZvNoa pic.twitter.com/vNi22EgcAc
— D$makes$ (@Dmakes2) February 17, 2024
Spieth DQ’d…
The fact that it’s 2024 and golfers still have to sign a scorecard is a joke
— Eric (@eric7138) February 17, 2024
It seems absurd to me that PGA players have to sign their scorecards like there aren't cameras, fans, and officials everywhere. But I don't watch a lot of golf. What am I missing? https://t.co/toznlg5cgd
— Neil Orfield (@playerqDFS) February 17, 2024
A) I'm generally anti-Spieth but
B) The notion of still manually computing scores in this day and age is hilariously dumb.
Then again, maybe it's necessary because the live scoring never works on the PGA Tour. https://t.co/VzDDOtnfa1
— Justin Van Zuiden (@stlcardinals84) February 17, 2024
For anyone unaware, a player’s official scorecard is usually kept by one of his playing competitors. A player, and/or his caddy, will generally also keep an unofficial card. At the end of the round, the players go over the official card. If there is an issue, a correction is made. Once there are no issues (or in this case, no issues noticed), the card is signed. Had the mistake gone the other way, and Spieth took a three but signed for a four, he would not have been disqualified but would have to take the higher number.
It’s definitely a custom that is easily criticized. While professional golf has generally adhered to the notion that the rules on tour are the same that you’ll see at your local course, the reality is that plenty of rules are essentially exclusive to the tour. For example, most regular rounds of golf aren’t played on courses with grandstands, so “line of sight relief” is not a thing. Additionally, players on tour often have penalties called out by viewers watching on television. No such thing happens in regular golf.
Spieth (and his playing partners) deserve plenty of blame for this mistake. Ultimately, it’s on Spieth to be sure that no errors are on his card. But it’s also an issue that can be easily fixed.
[PGA Tour Communications on Twitter/X]
