[Photo: Orlando Ramirez]
Ten years removed from winning the WGC–Cadillac Championship in the PGA Tour’s most recent visit to Doral Resort, Adam Scott returned this week to the Blue Monster as an ‘honorary’ defending champion. The Miami resort that had hosted a popular tour event for more than five decades was added back to the schedule this year for the first time since 2016 with a ‘new’ Cadillac signature event.
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Scott’s fond memories of his most recent appearance at Doral, however, were muted during the opening round, when the 45-year-old Queenslander made a costly rules blunder. After two birdies offset by two bogeys on his opening seven holes, Scott pulled his tee shot into the rough on the par-5 eighth hole. He played his second shot out of the gnarly lie but when he was preparing for his third, he realised the ball that he’d hit wasn’t his.
Playing the wrong ball is a violation of Rule 6.3 and comes with a two-shot penalty. Thankfully for Scott, when he returned to the spot where he believed his original drive finished, he managed to find that ball. From there, he played what counted as his fourth shot, putting his ball back in the fairway. He then hit the green from 134 metres (147 yards) with his fifth shot and two-putted from 15 feet for a double-bogey 7.
That’s not the right ball 😬
A nightmare at No. 8 for Adam Scott as he plays the wrong ball @Cadillac_Champ.
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— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 30, 2026
While Scott was upset with transpired, it could have been worse. Had he not realised he had played a wrong ball, played out the hole with it and proceeded to tee off on the next hole, he would have been subject for disqualification. As our rules expert Ron Kaspriske pointed out in an edition of his weekly Rules Review department that focused on how to proceed after hitting a wrong ball, Rule 6.3 specifies that a player who plays a wrong ball must correct the mistake by going back and playing your ball to finish the hole.
And what would have happened if Scott, after becoming aware of hitting a wrong ball, couldn’t find his original ball in the rough? He would have had to play under the rules for a lost ball, adding another penalty stroke and going back to the tee, where he would have been hitting his fifth shot.
Scott proceeded to make eight straight pars after the blunder, then bogeyed the last two holes to post a four-over 76 and sit 12 shots behind early leader Cameron Young in the no-cut event.