20 DUMBEST Moments That RUINED Golf Tournaments

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20 DUMBEST Moments That RUINED Golf Tournaments

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00:00 Open 2025
01:28 Doral Ryder
02:52 Harrington
04:07 Spike
05:10 Villegas
06:19 Caddie issues
07:44 Tiger
09:07 Not allowed
10:14 Mom’s calling
11:48 Drop
12:54 TV
14:11 Monty
15:53 Roll
17:21 BMW 2013
18:58 TV Police
20:19 Don’t speak
21:27 1987
22:35 Oscillating Ball
24:11 DUMBEST

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From golf pros getting backstabbed by TV viewers to embarrassing incidents that left everyone speechless, these are the 20 dumbest moments that ruined golf tournaments. And first we start with number 20. And what better way to begin than with something that happened just weeks ago. Royal Portrush 2025. Shane Lowry is back where he conquered the world 6 years earlier, lifting that clar jug on home soil. But then comes the 12th hole. Lowry’s in the rough after his T-shot. Nothing unusual there. He’s lining up his second shot. Takes a practice swing like he’s done thousands of times before. The ball sits there in the thick grass. He addresses it, makes his shot, walks on. It should be that simple. But it wasn’t because while Shane Lowry had no idea what just happened, someone else did. Actually, thousands of people did. The TV cameras had zoomed in tight on his ball during that practice swing, and what they captured would turn his entire round upside down. It wasn’t until three holes later that a rules official approached him with the news. There was a possibility the ball moved on the 12th. The RNA determined that Lowry’s practice swing had caused his ball to move. Something so subtle that even Lowry himself, staring directly at the ball, never saw it happen. But slow motion TV footage told a different story. a two-shot swing that took him from contention to the cutline. All because TV viewers spotted something the player himself never saw. At number 19, this guy just shot a brilliant 65 in the first round of a PGA Tour event. He’s walking off the 18th green thinking he is only one shot behind the leaders. The cameras are following him, the crowd’s buzzing, and he can practically taste victory. That was Paul Azinger’s reality at the 1991 Dural Rider Open until a phone call from Colorado changed everything. Someone sitting in their living room 2,000 mi away was about to destroy Azinger’s weekend. This anonymous viewer had been watching Thursday’s USA Network telecast when something caught their eye. On the 18th hole, when Azinger was playing from a water hazard, he’d done something that looked questionable. The viewer called the PGA Tour on Friday morning while Azinger was in the middle of his brilliant second round. What did they report? Ozinger had kicked a piece of coral out of the way while setting up for his shot in the water hazard. Thing is, Azinger had already signed his scorecard without taking the mandatory two-stroke penalty, and moving any loose impediment in a hazard is a clear violation. So, as soon as Azinger finished his 65th, tournament officials escorted him to a CBS trailer. They reviewed the vide tape and there it was, clear as day. The coral moved when his foot touched it. The penalty, disqualification for signing an incorrect scorecard. Golf can be brutal. Number 18 takes us to Abu Dhabi in 2011 where Patrick Harrington was having the kind of day every golfer dreams about. A brilliant 7 under 65 in the first round, putting him just one shot off the lead. The three-time major champion was feeling good, confident, ready to make a serious run at another title. But somewhere in some living room, someone was rewinding their TV. It happened on the seventh green. Harrington had a 20-footer, marked his ball, replaced it, and went to remove his coin marker. What he didn’t realize was that his finger brushed the ball as he picked up his marker. The contact was so slight that Harrington felt it, looked down, checked his ball’s position, using the Titus logo he always used for alignment and was satisfied it hadn’t moved. Playing partner Martin Kr didn’t notice anything either. But highdefinition slow motion replay disagrees. An anonymous viewer spotted the incident and phoned the European tour. After reviewing the footage about 60 times, they came to a conclusion. The ball had moved forward by three dimples, then back about one and a half. Under rule 20-3A, no penalty if you put it back right. Harrington didn’t. That’s a two-stroke penalty he never recorded. That’s another DQ for signing the wrong score. Now we’re at number 17. Shanghai 2013. The BMW Masters. Simon Dyson is flying high, tied for second place after two rounds, sitting pretty at four underpar. Looking at a potential career-defining weekend. Then Saturday morning arrives and everything falls apart. Tournament officials wake him up with the worst news. He’s disqualified. Not for something obvious, but for something TV viewers noticed from Friday’s round. On the eighth green, Dyson marked his ball, cleaned it, and as he replaced it, casually tap down what looked like a spike mark in his line. Harmless. Not under rule 16-1A. You’re not allowed to touch your line of putt. No exceptions. That tap cost him a two-stroke penalty, but since he’d already signed his card, it meant disqualification. The worst part of it is that the tour investigated and found he’d done it before deliberately. They punished him with a £30,000 fine and a suspended 2-month ban for serious misconduct. Coming in at number 16, we’re heading to Paradise. Well, sort of. Capalua, Hawaii 2011, the Tournament of Champions. Sounds dreamy, right? The poor Camilo Viegas is about to have the worst birthday present ever, courtesy of some eagle-eyed fans watching from their sofas. Here’s what went down. Valle is playing the 15th hole, trying to chip up this ridiculously steep slope to the green. First attempt, ball comes rolling right back down to his feet. Second attempt, same thing. The golf ball’s basically telling him, “Nope, not today, buddy.” But while the ball is still moving, he casually swats away some loose grass from in front of his divot. Just a little flick of the club. Nothing dramatic. Probably didn’t even think about it, but somebody watching at home definitely thought about it. Actually, multiple somebody’s. Cut to Friday morning, Valleus’ 29th birthday, by the way. The Colombian got hit with a two-shot penalty for rule 23-1. But since he’d already signed his scorecard without adding those strokes, boom, disqualification. Happy birthday, Camilo. Your present is going home early. Next up at number 15, we’re heading to Phoenix in 2013 for the RR Donnelly LPGA Founders Cup. But this story, this one actually has a happy ending. Sort of. Stacy Lewis is having herself a weekend. She’s in contention, feeling good, and just knocked in a beautiful birdie putt on 18 to close out her third round. Walking off the green, she thinks she’s only two shots behind leader Amiyazato. Perfect position for Sunday’s final round. But somewhere, some catty is sitting in a bar, casually watching women’s golf on TV when something catches his eye. It’s the 16th hole. Lewis is in a fairway bunker asking her caddy, Travis Wilson, about the sand conditions. When Wilson walks into the bunker, this anonymous caddy watching TV sees him do a little bounce with his foot. The guy turns and says, “That’s a penalty.” So, he calls it in. Cut to Lewis in the scoring tent, completely blindsided. LPJ officials pull her and Wilson aside to review the footage. When they slow it down and zoom in, there’s Wilson’s foot. Rule 13-4 violation. Testing the conditions of a hazard. Two-stroke penalty. Suddenly, Lewis isn’t two back anymore. She’s four back. But she channels that frustration into fuel. She fires a final round 64, makes up seven shots on Miyazado, wins the tournament by three strokes, and becomes the new world number one. Which brings us to number 14, where we’re diving into the big leagues. Augusta National 2013, the Masters, and oh boy, Tiger Woods is about to create the most controversial moment in tournament history that doesn’t involve green jackets or Aelas. The guy is cruising at five under, looking absolutely dialed in. On Friday, he gets to the 15th hole, has about 87 yd to the pin, and decides to go straight at it. The shot looks perfect until it smacks the flag stick and ricochets back into the water. Tiger chooses to drop near his original spot instead of using the designated drop area. Takes his drop, makes bogey, signs his card, heads to the media tent. No biggie until enter David Eager, a respected rules official sitting at home in Florida. He spots that Tiger’s got a fresh divot hole where there wasn’t one before. Eager knows the rule. You’ve got to drop as near as possible to your original spot. Then Tiger goes and tells ESPN he dropped two yards back to avoid hitting the flag again. Boom. He just confessed to breaking the rules on national television. Q. Absolute chaos. And by Saturday morning, Tiger’s getting summoned to the clubhouse like he’s been called to the principal’s office. The Masters Committee pulls out rule 33-7 and gives him a twoshot penalty instead of the boot. At number 12, we’re heading to Oregon for what might be the most ridiculous gotcha moment in golf history. The 2010 Safeway Classic, and Julie Inkster is about to get absolutely blindsided by the rules police. She’s a 50-year-old Hall of Famer having a fantastic weekend. She shot 67 in the second round, sitting pretty at eight under, just three shots behind leader Mia Zado. Everything’s going according to plan. Then she got to the 10th T and traffic jam, a 30inut backup. What do you do when you’re stuck waiting for half an hour? Well, if you’re a professional athlete, you probably want to stay loose, right? So Inkster grabs her nine iron, slides a weighted doughut training aid on it. You know those circular weights that help with swing tempo and takes a few practice swings. But guess what? Someone’s watching at home and knows that rule 14-3 is clear. No training aids allowed during play. Inkster doesn’t find out until she finishes her round on the 17th hole. She’s walking off the green when officials break the news. Disqualification just like that. Rolling into number 11 and we’ve got something you absolutely cannot make up. TPC Sawrass 2021 the players championship and Victor Havland is about to get the most awkward phone call of his professional career. He had just finished his opening round, shot a solid two under 70, feeling pretty good about himself. He’s walking to his car in the parking lot. Then his phone rings. It’s his mom, Galina, calling from Norway. Now, most 23-year-old guys getting a call from mom after work might expect to hear, “How was your day, honey?” or “Did you eat enough?” Not, Victor. Mom goes straight for the jugular. Are you going to get penalized for what happened on the 15th hole? Havlin’s like, “What? What are you talking about? Turns out Mama Bear had been watching her son on TV from thousands of miles away, and she spotted that on the 15th green, Havland had moved his ball marker one putter head length to get out of Justin Thomas’ putting line. But when he went to replace it, he moved it another putter head in the same direction instead of back to its original spot. So, he puted from two putter heads away from where he should have been. Havland had zero recollection of doing this. Neither did his caddy. But mom, mom was eagle-eyed from 4,000 m away. So he immediately called tournament officials and self-reported. Video confirmed mom was right. Two-stroke penalty under rule 14.7, but thanks to modern rules, no disqualification. His 70 became a 72 and he missed the cut by exactly two shots. Breaking into the top 10, we’re diving into one of those seriously that’s a penalty moments. Naples, Florida, 2012. The CME Group title holders Yu Suny Young is having a solid day, just one shot off the lead at the 14th T. She’s in the hunt, feeling good. Then her T-shot finds trouble buried deep under some bushy overgrowth. No problem, she thinks. Tries to muscle it out with a 5iron, but oops. She knocks it even deeper into the bushes. Now she’s got an unplayable lie, so she does what any rational golfer would do. Takes a penalty stroke and prepares to drop. So, U sets up for her drop, extends her arm, drops the ball, plays on. Everything looks normal. But someone watching the Golf Channel broadcast spotted that when you dropped the ball, her arm wasn’t extended at the full 90° angle. It was a bit lower than shoulder height, not the horizontal position required by the rules. So, what do they do? They tweet the LPGA. The officials review the footage after her round, and sure enough, improper drop. Another stroke penalty tacked on. Sliding into number nine and we’ve got one of the most heartbreaking stories in this entire countdown. New Delhi, India 2012. Peter Whiteford is about to have his dreams crushed by television technology. He is having the week of his life. He led the tournament after round two and now he’s standing on the 18th TE in the third round, just one shot off the lead. This is his chance. His first European Tour victory is within reach. He plays his approach shot to the 18th green and as he addresses the ball, something happens. Or does it? Whiteford looks up at the green, then back down. He steps back, confused, and asks everyone around him, “Did my ball move?” His playing partners look. The officials nearby look. Everyone shrugs and says, “No, they didn’t see anything.” So Whiteford plays the shot, finishes his round, signs his scorecard, and heads off feeling good about his position going into the final round. But overnight, the armchair police strike again. Several viewers contact the European tour, all saying the same thing. Whiteford’s ball definitely moved on 18. The next morning, just as he’s about to tee off for the final round his chance at glory, officials approach him with the penalty. One stroke for not replacing the ball. But since he’d already signed an incorrect scorecard, the real penalty was DQ. Coming in at number eight, we’re diving into what might be the most controversial incident on our entire list. The Indonesian Open 2005. Here’s the situation. Monty desperately needs a top three finish to crack the world’s top 50 and get into the players championship. It’s not going well. Second round, 14th hole, and his approach shot finds a greenside bunker in the worst possible spot. Montgomery spends several minutes trying to figure out his stance. The ball’s right on the edge of a deep bunker and he’s struggling. One foot in, one foot out. Nothing feels comfortable. It’s looking like an impossible shot. Then boom, lightning flashes, the horn sounds, everyone evacuates. Montgomery marches off without marking his ball, leaving it exactly where it lies. Next morning, when play resumes, Monty returns to the 14th hole and whoops, no ball, it’s gone missing. So according to the rules, he consults with his playing partners about where to replace it. And suddenly with his replacement ball, he’s got no problem at all. Takes an easy stance completely outside the bunker and chips it close for par. He finishes fourth, gets his world ranking points, and qualifies for the players championship until the TV footage shows up. The ball was replaced about a foot from its original position in a much more favorable spot that completely changed the shot. Montgomery later admitted he’d made an error and donated his £24,000 prize money to charity, but he kept the world ranking points. Some players, led by Sandy Lyle, openly called it cheating. The controversy raged for years with Monty insisting it was unintentional. Either way, those ranking points got him into the players championship. Lucky number seven brings us to Wentworth, the 2012 BMW PGA Championship, and Graeme McDow is about to get absolutely blindsided by the rules in a freak scenario. GMAC is grinding through his opening round, actually playing decent golf for once at Wentworth. He’s on track to break par, feeling good about his position. Then disaster strikes. His drive on 18 finds trouble right into the trees. McDow trudges over to assess the damage and his ball is sitting precariously on a bed of branches and leaves. Not ideal, but he’s dealt with worse. As he approaches and gets ready to play his shot, the ball does what balls sometimes do in precarious positions. It moves just slightly. A tiny rotation barely perceptible to anyone standing there. Now, here’s where golf’s rules get absolutely ridiculous. because the ball moved after McDow addressed it, that’s automatically deemed to be his fault. One stroke penalty. But wait, there’s more. Since he didn’t replace the ball in its exact original position before playing his next shot, that’s another penalty stroke. Two shots. Just like that, nobody on the ground thought it was a big deal. But you know who did think it was a big deal? Some eagle-eyed TV viewer who spotted the incident and called it in before the broadcast team even finished reviewing it. McDow went from breaking part to shooting 74 with a triple bogey eight on the final hole. All because of what he called golf’s impossible rules and their idiosyncrasies. At number six, and would you believe it, Tiger Woods is back on our countdown. And this time, he’s absolutely furious about what’s about to happen to him at the 2013 BMW Championship. So, Tiger’s grinding through his second round at Conway Farms and his approach shot on the first hole sails over the green into the trees. No big deal. Happens to everyone. He trudges back there to assess the situation. And his ball is sitting on some branches and twigs behind the green. Standard procedure. Tiger starts clearing loose impediments around his ball. Moves a large branch. No problem. Then he spots a little twig right next to his ball and rolls it away with his club. That’s when it happens. The ball moves just slightly, barely perceptible. Now, here’s where Tiger and the officials see things very differently. Tiger swears the ball only oscillated, meaning it wiggled and settled back in the exact same spot. In his mind, no harm, no foul. But there’s a problem. A PGA Tour entertainment crew was filming Tiger’s round, and an editor back at headquarters reviewing the footage spots the movement and calls it in. Slugger White, the tour’s rules chief, pulls Tiger aside before he signs his scorecard. They watch the video together multiple times. Tiger still insisted the ball just oscillated, but White sees it differently. The ball clearly moved position and didn’t return to its original spot. So, one stroke penalty for causing it to move, another stroke for not replacing it. His double bogey 6 becomes a quadruple bogey 8, and his 70 becomes a 72. For number five, we’re heading across the pond to England. The 2005 British Masters where Miguel Angel Martin is about to get absolutely hammered by the TV police. The Spanish veteran is grinding through his round trying to make something happen. He finds his ball in a tricky spot near some trees with vegetation all around him. Nothing unusual for a British golf course. There’s always something growing somewhere you don’t want it. As Martin sets up for his shot, he needs to take his stance carefully. The ground is uneven. There are branches overhead and right where he needs to put his foot, a small sapling, just a tiny tree, really. Barely more than a twig with ambitions. So, Martin does what any golfer would do. He stands on it. It’s the only way he can reasonably take his stance for the shot. The sapling bends under his weight. He plays his shot and moves on with his round. But someone watching on TV spot Martin stepping on that little sapling and immediately think rule 13-2. The rule that says you can’t improve your stance by bending or breaking anything growing. The viewer calls it in and officials review the footage. They are right. Martin could have avoided standing on the sapling if he’d been more careful about his stance. As you might guess by now, he’d already signed his scorecard without adding the penalty strokes. So, automatic disqualification. At number four, we’re going way back to 1980 for one of the earliest examples of TV viewers policing professional golf. The Mooney Tournament of Champions at Lacasta. It’s the final round of an exclusive 29 player tournament, and Tom Watson is grouped with the legendary Lee Trevino. These are two of the biggest names in golf, playing together in front of the cameras on a beautiful day in California. As they’re walking the course, Watson notices something about Trevino’s setup over the ball. Being the helpful competitor he is, Watson makes a casual comment, suggesting Trevino should adjust his stance slightly. Totally innocent. Just one pro offering friendly advice to another. Happens all the time in casual rounds. But the problem is this isn’t a casual round, and someone watching at home knows their rules better than these two Hall of Famers apparently did. Rule 8:1 is absolutely unforgiving. During a competitive round, you cannot give advice to a fellow competitor. So, Watson gets hit with a two-stroke penalty at the end of his round. Just like that, his helpful nature cost him two shots. Good news is Watson was so far ahead that even with the penalty, he still won the tournament by three strokes. Entering our top three, the 1987 Andy Williams Open at Tory Pines. It’s the third round, and Craig Stadler’s drive on the 14th hole finds trouble under a massive Leland Cypress tree. Low hanging branches make a normal swing impossible. So Stadler does what any resourceful golfer would do. He gets creative. He decides to play the shot from his knees. Smart thinking. But here’s the problem. The ground is muddy from overnight rain, and Stadler is wearing his nice turquoise pants. So he grabs a towel, places it on the wet grass, kneels down, and chips the ball back into the fairway. Perfect execution. Crisis averted. Stadler continues his round, finishes strong, and by Sunday, he’s in great shape, tied for second place after birdieing the final hole. But then NBC’s Highlights package airs before the final round, showing Stadler’s creative shot from Saturday. And somebody watching at home says, “Wait, isn’t that building a stance?” Rule 13-3 violation. Officials review the tape and agree. Two-stroke penalty, and again, another scorecard signed without adding those strokes. Another DQ. The sweet spot number two, the 2016 US Open at Oakmont. Dustin Johnson is about to experience a nightmare that will literally change the rules of golf forever. So, it’s the final round and DJ is just two shots behind leader Shane Lowry. He’s standing over a short par putt on the notoriously slick fifth green at Oakmont. He takes two practice swings, approaches his ball, but something feels off. He backs away. Then it happens. His ball moves just slightly a millimeter at most. Johnson immediately calls for referee Mark Newell and explains he didn’t cause it to move. His playing partner, Lee Westwood, backs him up. On those lightning fast Oakmont Greens, balls can move from a gust of wind. The referee agrees. No penalty play from the new position. Case closed, right? Wrong. Seven holes later on the 12th T, USGA officials go after him. After examining video footage, they think he might have caused the ball to move when he grounded his club near it. So DJ has to play the final seven holes of the US Open, including the pressure-packed closing stretch, not knowing if he’ll get a penalty stroke added to his score afterward. After Johnson finished and thankfully won by three shots, officials confirmed the penalty, one stroke added for causing his ball to move. This incident was so controversial that the USGAA and RNA completely rewrote the rules. Starting in 2019, there’s no penalty for accidentally moving your ball on the green. They literally created the Dustin Johnson rule because this whole thing was so absurd. Sometimes it takes one ridiculous controversy to fix a broken system. And here we are. Our number one dumbest rule that ruined a golf tournament. The 2017 ANA inspiration at Mission Hills. Victim Lexi Thompson. She is absolutely cruising. She’s got a three-shot lead in the final round of a major championship. At 22 years old, she’s six holes away from her second major title and looking completely unstoppable. Then she sees Sue Witters, the LPGA’s rules official, walking toward her as she heads to the 13th T. And Lexi has no idea why. During Saturday’s third round, Thompson had marked a 1-ft putt on the 17th green and replaced her ball maybe an inch from its original position. Nobody noticed. Not her, not her playing partners, not the officials on site, but someone watching at home noticed. They sent an email to the LPGA during Sunday’s final round pointing out the violation from 24 hours earlier. Officials reviewed the footage and confirmed it. Rule 20-7 C violation. Two strokes for incorrect ball placement. Two more strokes for signing an incorrect scorecard. On Saturday, Thompson goes from leading by three to trailing by one in the span of a conversation. Just like that, 24 hours after the fact, but instead of collapsing, she gets mad. She birdies the very next hole, sinking a 25-footer to massive roars from the crowd. Then birdies 15 to regain the lead. She forces a playoff with So Yon Ryu nearly eagles the 72nd hole for the outright win, but ultimately loses on the first playoff hole. 1 in 24 hours later. From certain victory to playoff heartbreak, that’s our number one for a reason. Now that you’re still here, we have another video for you to watch. Enjoy.