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Last week, dozens of golfers on the Korn Ferry Tour headed to Victoria National Golf Club hoping they’d be one of the 30 people who’d manage to punch their ticket to the PGA Tour by the time the league’s championship tournament wrapped up. It looked like Shad Tuten had managed to do exactly that, but he’ll have to wait at least one more year thanks to a brutal penalty that knocked him out of the running.
For the uninitiated, the Korn Ferry Tour is essentially the PGA Tour’s minor league affiliate, and players on the circuit tend to lead a decidedly unglamorous life while grinding in the hopes of securing the hallowed card that will allow them to routinely go head-to-head with the best golfers on the planet.
Tuten has spent the past few years doing exactly that, and heading into the weekend, the 31-year-old Florida native was still in the hunt to graduate to the PGA Tour based on the points he’d earned with his consistent play over the course of the 2023 Korn Ferry season.
When he closed out his final round at the Tour Championship on Sunday, it appeared he had done exactly that, as the two-over 74 he shot at the course in Indiana was good enough to finish in the 30th spot in the points race and earn that coveted PGA Tour card.
Unfortunately, according to Golf, things took a turn when rules officials took another look at what unfolded when Tuten was on the 15th hole.
A local rule in place for the event gave competitors the right to “lift, clean, and place” their golf ball between shots, and while Tuten took advantage of it, he didn’t notice the ball had moved when he put it back onto the spot he’d marked on the fairway prior to his third shot.
The rule in question stated players had to make a second attempt to place the ball in that situation, and the two-stroke penalty he was hit with for failing to adhere to it dropped him to 76 on the day, which meant Tuten ended up in the 32nd spot on the Korn Ferry rankings and will subsequently need to spend another year on the circuit to try to earn his PGA Tour card.
Shad Tuten was assessed a two-stroke penalty on hole No. 15 under preferred lies local rule E-3, turning a 2-over 74 into a 4-over 76. Tuten also fell from projected No. 30 on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List to No. 32.
Chief referee Jim Duncan provided context on the ruling. pic.twitter.com/a5qXcqJLFC
— Korn Ferry Tour (@KornFerryTour) October 8, 2023
At the end of the day, the officials made the right call, but you still have to feel for him.