Shad Tuten's penalty costs him his PGA Tour card

Shad Tuten was seen at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship last Sunday where he made an unfortunate mistake that cost him his dream to play on the PGA Tour. During the final round on Sunday at the Victoria National Golf Club, he was playing on the par five 15th hole when he misplaced the ball that eventually moved him outside the top 30 on the season long points list.

The 31-year-old American hit his second shot of the hole that landed 100 yards away from the green. He was all good until he marked the ball from his tee. He picked his ball up and cleaned it. When he was placing it on the mark, it moved slightly forward.

Due to wet weather conditions, a local rule was in place. As per the rule 14.2e, the player must place the ball on the mark and wait to see if it moves. If it does move, the player must try placing the ball again. If it still moves, the player can place the ball anywhere near where it stays still.

Shad Tuten was unaware of his error and was well inside the top 30 in the Korn Ferry Tour season rankings as he shot a 2 over 74 in the final round at Victoria National Golf Club. But when it was spotted by the official, he was handed a two stroke penalty that slipped him to 32nd on the rankings that cost him the first PGA Tour card for next season.

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What did chief referee Jim Duncan say about the penalty Shad Tuten was handed?

After the 31-year-old American received the penalty, Golf Channel reporter Gary Christian spoke with the chief referee of the Korn Ferry Tour Championship, Jim Duncan. He asked about the context of the punishment that Shad Tuten was handed.

In a video shared by Korn Ferry Tour on X (formerly Twitter), Duncan was heard saying that a video of Tuten placing his ball after cleaning was spotted. He added that it was clear that the golfer had placed the ball after cleaning but it moved a little forward.

However, as per the local rule for the wet conditions, the ball must have been placed on the exact spot and if it did not stay still, one more attempt would have been made.

"Unfortunately, that rule requires you to try to replace it on the exact same spot again, and then if it won’t at rest, that's when you find the nearest place that you do, just like any other rule that requires placing," Jim Duncan said.

But as Shad Tuten did not try to place the ball again in the same spot, Duncan shared that "he was under penalty" and his scorecard got a two-stroke deficit.

The 31-year-old gofler had made 88 starts on the Korn Ferry Tour. He almost earned his first PGA Tour card, but fate had other plans and he slipped off the contention after an unfortunate mistake.