The Genesis Scottish Open was stacked with quality going into the third round, as the likes of Ludvig Aberg, Rory McIlroy and Collin Morikawa were just some of the names in contention.
As the leaders went out at 15.40pm local time, there was an opportunity for those in pursuit to make early moves and put pressure on those at the top of the leaderboard. However, for Mackenzie Hughes, his day couldn't have started much worse... with the Canadian assessed a two stroke penalty after he was late for his tee time!
Mackenzie Hughes was assessed a two-stroke penalty for being late to his third-round tee time at the Genesis Scottish Open. The two-stroke penalty was applied to the par-4 first hole.July 13, 2024
Getting underway at 14.45pm alongside Nicolai Hojgaard, it was soon revealed by PGA Tour Communications that Hughes was late arriving for his tee time, with a statement reading: "Mackenzie Hughes was assessed a two-stroke penalty for being late to his third-round tee time at the Genesis Scottish Open. The two-stroke penalty was applied to the par-4 first hole."
On Saturday, Hughes started his round four back of overnight leader, Aberg, but with the two shot penalty, it was in fact six strokes as he teed off at the first, with Hughes making a par that was bumped up to a double bogey.
In fairness to Hughes, he did birdie the third and sixth to get back to level-par for his day but, with the likes of Robert MacIntyre, Adam Scott and multiple others making charges, the 33-year-old found himself well outside the top 10 going into the back nine on Saturday at The Renaissance Club.
It's not the first time we have heard an incident like this happen. Just a few weeks ago, Scott Vincent was playing at the International Series Morocco event and, after an eventful morning, was almost disqualified for missing his tee time.
In fairness to Vincent, his luggage had been misplaced, with the Iron Heads GC player forced to head back to the airport in an attempt to retrieve his bags. However, when it was discovered his bags weren't there, he raced back to the course and, following a wrong turn, returned to the golf club and was given a two-stroke penalty after not making his tee time. Despite this chaos, he managed to shoot a five-under-par round with rented clubs to sit two strokes back of the leaders.
