It’s supposed to be one of the rarer penalties in golf. Given it’s happened twice in the past week, perhaps it’s not that rare anymore.
Mackenzie Hughes entered the Saturday of the Genesis Scottish Open in contention thanks to consecutive 66s to start the event. Unfortunately for the Canadian, a self-inflicted wound put his championship aspirations in doubt.
Hughes’ third-round tee time at the The Renaissance Club was listed at 2:45 p.m. local time. Alas, Hughes pulled one of the biggest no-nos in the sport: He failed to show up at his appointed start.
According to the Rules of Golf, a player who arrives late or misses their tee time is disqualified from the event. There are three exceptions, however, one of which is arriving no more than five minutes late. Hughes made it to the first tee with time to spare, avoiding getting knocked out of the tournament but receiving a two-shot penalty. The penalty turned Hughes’ opening par into a double.
Oddly enough, the same issue happened to LIV Golfer Scott Vincent last week at the Asian Tour’s International Series Morocco. Vincent at least had a reasonable excuse, as he traveled to an airport over 90 minutes away in hopes of recovering his lost clubs, only to discover the airlines had not found his missing bags.
To Hughes’ credit, he was able to get back to even par on the day with birdies at the third and sixth holes. However, with the field is going low at the Scottish Open this week, the penalty puts Hughes in an inauspicious spot to make a weekend run.