Shaun Norris has been assessed a two-stroke penalty during the final round of the Nexo Championship – a move that dealt a significant blow to his chances of winning the tournament.
The South African, who led Matthew Jordan by two shots at the start of the day, was deemed to have improved his stance by removing a replaced divot at the fifth hole.
The potential issue was flagged up after he completed what he thought was a par at the par-4, when he was driven away by a rules official.
It later transpired that, as he prepared to take his approach, Norris had kicked away a replaced divot with his right foot before playing his shot.
That fell foul of an area of rule 8 of the Rules of Golf, which covers “player’s actions that improve conditions affecting the stroke.”
Rule 8.1a, covering “actions that are not allowed,” states that a player is forbidden from “removing or pressing down divots that have already been replaced or other cut turf that is already in place.”
As a result, Norris was penalized, with the decision coming while he remained at nine-under and in a tie for the lead with Scott Jamieson following the ninth hole.
The penalty dropped Norris back into a tie for third as he began the back nine, leaving him plenty of work to do to remain in the hunt for his third DP World Tour title.
The penalty imposed on Norris has received some criticism online. Prominent golf X account Monday Q Info was one of those to question the decision, writing: “Really is a wild decision to me. Shaun Norris is being penalized for kicking away a divot that hadn’t been properly replaced. It was clearly sticking up above surface of the ground.”
Norris didn’t appear to let the penalty affect his game, at least initially, when he got back to eight under at the 11th with his second birdie of the day, with a beautifully judged putt from off the green, after Jamieson had moved to 10 under.
However, a double bogey at the 12th dropped him back to six under and apparently out of contention.
The penalty came just a day after Norris created headlines for a very different reason, when he made an albatross at the par-5 fourth to move to the top of the leaderboard.
