Pro golfers lose £342,000 between them after ‘amateur hour’ mistake as commentator says ‘almost doesn’t seem possible’
TWO bungling golfers lost out on a combined £340,000 after an “amateur hour” mistake.
Will Zalatoris, 28, and Cameron Davis, 29, were in the same group in the final round of The Sentry.
With world No1 Scottie Scheffler missing the tournament after a freak Christmas injury, the rest of the field were keen to take advantage.
But things went horribly wrong for Zalatoris and Davis.
World No48 Davis was at -23 and Zalatoris at -19 as they teed off on the par-five 15th hole at the Kapalua Plantation Course in Hawaii.
But after both men crunched their drives and then hit their second shots near the green of the 551-yard.
However, it was on their third shots that a shocking mix-up happened.
Three-time major runner-up Zalatoris managed to hit Davis’ ball – while the Australian hit his playing partner’s ball.
An on-course commentator explained: “I understand that Will Zalatoris played the wrong ball here.
“Playing the wrong ball is a two-stroke penalty and you must correct that mistake.
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“Now Cam Davis is also in that group and he went over and played Zalatoris’ ball without checking it as well so there is a two-stroke penalty for him as well.
“They both have to correct that and go back to where they last played.”
As explained, the breach of the strict golf rules – intentional or accidental – is punished with a two-stroke penalty.
Both Zalatoris – ranked 63rd in the world – and Davis had to settle for bogeys on a hole that many of the leading players secured birdies on.
And that had a big impact on the final leaderboard, topped by Hideki Matsuyama on -35, three clear of Collin Morikawa to kick off the new PGA Tour season in style.
Davis finished on -22 while Zalatoris ended up on -19.
Had they both been two shots better off, Davis would have finished in a tie for fifth while -21 would have been good enough for T15 for Zalatoris.
And it also had huge ramifications on their pay cheques – with the pair a combined £342,000 worse off due to the drop down the leaderboard.
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The blunder prompted plenty of talk on TV and social media.
One commentator said: “Wow, what a pair of mistakes there, especially with the money and FedEx points involved here.
“That is just frustrating, disappointing, everything above.”
Another added: “It almost does not seem possible in today’s game that you could not play your own ball.”
And a third simply quipped: “That’s going to be expensive!”
On X, one fan wrote: “How could nobody stop them? Especially after the first one was hit. What is this? Amateur Hour?”
And a second replied: “Unbelievable Jeff! 30 yards apart! Shame for both, both really likeable. Hope not costly in FedEx points, OWGR etc..”