Gregorio de Leo was penalised a stroke for slow play during the back nine of the Turkish Airlines Open final round. The Italian received a one-stroke penalty from the DP World Tour while sitting just one off the lead on the 168-yard par-3, having taken over 50 seconds to play his tee shot.
That meant the 26-year-old effectively bogeyed the 11th hole through his penalty despite saving par. He subsequently bogeyed the 15th and 17th to finish tied seventh alongside Ricardo Gouveia, four shots adrift of the first-time European Tour winner, Mikael Lindberg, who pocketed almost £350,000.
An unnamed Tour official has since clarified the penalty decision. As reported by Golf Monthly, they said: “De Leo was given a one-shot penalty because the player exceeded his allowed time for the stroke (50 seconds) by more than an additional 30 seconds, whilst being monitored. In such situations, the DP World Tour Pace of Play Policy stipulates a one-stroke penalty to be applied. It was his tee shot on the 11th hole.”
These regulations came into force for the 2020 season. They state: “An immediate one-stroke penalty will now be applied on the second ‘bad time’ in a tournament. Players who exceed time limits whilst being ‘monitored’ will now incur a ‘bad time’ and it will count towards the one-stroke penalty.”
Regarding the time limits, the rules state: “When players are out of position, their time allowance is 50 seconds for the first to play, 40 seconds for second or third to play. A one-shot penalty will be applied after two bad times (exceeding the time allowance) in the tournament.”
It is said that “the existing principle of allowing an extra 10 per cent on the 40 and 50 second limits will be maintained by referees, recognising human differences can occur in starting timing. A player will be assessed a ‘bad time’ if he has a third time in this 10 per cent allowance.”
While a level-par final round saw De Leo slip down the leaderboard, Lindberg went on to claim victory, which also secures him a place at the PGA Championship. This year’s tournament at Aronimink will additionally mark his major debut.
The Swede said: “This is a dream come true, I’ve been dreaming about this for so many years. My feelings on this last hole, I almost felt dizzy, and I almost felt I wanted to throw up.”
Lindberg qualifies as one of the top three finishers on the Asian Swing after topping the standings. He said: “To be honest, I barely knew it was even possible because I saw the guys who were leading the Asian Swing were quite far ahead. I don’t know what to say, really, it’s going to be amazing.”