Lydia Ko endured a disastrous start to her final round at the Dana Open when the World No. 3 was hit with a seven-stroke penalty for incorrect use of preferred lies.
Ko and the rest of the field had been playing preferred lies for the entirety of Saturday’s round after a four-hour delay due to rain had led to a waterlogged course. However, for the final round, LPGA officials informed players that preferred lies would only be in place on the first and tenth holes after the course had recovered.
The Kiwi golfer, who was not playing with her regular caddie, David Jones, was clearly unaware of this change and went on to pick up her ball and play preferred lies on the 3rd, 7th and 9th hole.
It was only on the 11th hole - when Ko called for a ruling after marking her ball - that officials became aware of her incorrect use of preferred lies during the front nine. She was subsequently given a two-stroke penalty for each of her three infringements under Rule 14.7a which states:
“A player must make each stroke from where their ball comes to rest.”
As Ko had not put the ball back down after marking it on the 11th, she was only given a one-shot penalty under Rule 9.4b which says: “If the player lifts or deliberately touches their ball at rest or causes it to move, the player gets one penalty stroke.”
The unfortunate penalty meant Ko carded an eight-over par 42 on the front nine, with the two-time Major champion ending up in T65 and +1 for the tournament. It continues her poor season with the former World No. 1 failing to record a top-30 finish in an LPGA event since the Honda LPGA Thailand in February.
Earlier in the year, a similar mistake was made by the defending Augusta National Women's Amateur champion, Anna Davis, who was handed a four-stroke penalty on the first hole having mistakenly marked and cleaned her ball in the rough after thinking it was preferred lies everywhere.
It also marks the second time in as many weeks that an LPGA player has been hit with a penalty for a rules violation. Last week, at the US Women's Open, Natthakritta Vongtaveelap was disqualified after five holes when officials discovered her caddie had been using a rangefinder with the device not permitted for use at the event.
