[PHOTO: Orlando Ramirez]
It was set up to be a dream week for Mexico’s Emilio Gonzalez. The 27-year-old was awarded an exemption into this week’s World Wide Technology Championship, played in his home country at El Cardonal at Diamante in Cabo San Lucas. Gonzalez, who played 25 events this year on the Korn Ferry Tour, had competed in only one other PGA Tour event – this year’s Houston Open, where he impressively made the cut and tied for 74th.
In the World Wide Technology Championship, Gonzalez opened with a one-over-par 73 and appeared to follow up with a 71 on Friday that included five birdies. At even-par, Gonzalez was not going to make the cut that eventually came at two-under. Afterwards, he told a Mexican TV network in Spanish, “It was as week of many emotions.”
That sentiment would become truer than ever a while later. Sometime after Gonzalez signed his card and spoke to the media, tour rules officials determined that he would be disqualified “due to a breach of Rule 18.3 (Provisional Ball)”.
According to an account by the PGA Tour (there is no ShotLink available on-site this week), Gonzalez hit his tee shot into a desert area on the par-4 15th. He then played a provisional ball, and, according to the tour, a “brief” search was made for the original ball. A ball was found within the three-minute time limit, but the tour said Gonzalez failed to make a “reasonable effort” to identify the ball once it was found and continued to play the provisional. He eventually made a bogey 5.
To not be penalised and disqualified, Gonzalez needed to clearly determine whether the found ball was his or not.
Clearly, it was a rules gaffe by Gonzalez. If there was any upside, he didn’t lose any money, and Gonzalez has a big date with PGA Tour Q-School Finals in December.
“It’s a matter to keep improving in the direction I’m going,” Gonzalez said before the DQ. “I think I’m doing things right, trust my process and polishing my game on the green and around the green.”
And maybe polish up on the rules, too.
