In a rare moment, LIV pro, which has been hit by a penalty, is almost launched

Scott Vincent knew the time. After all, the previous day, he would have informed his Instagram followers.

“Asian Tour International Series Morocco,” a post on his news showed.

“Royal Golf Dar Es Salam (Red Course).”

“Scott Vincent, Eugenio Chacarra, Jazz Janewattananond.”

And in the upper left corner?

“About 12:30 pm Hole #1.”

Only Vincent reported about 12:34 and 30 seconds.

As first reported by the Asian Tour's Twitter account, the sequence led to an unusual penalty and nearly eliminated the LIV Golf pro in the first round of the event. The ruling is set out in Rule 5.3, which, in part, reads as follows:

“A player's round begins when the player makes a stroke to begin his first hole (see Rule 6.1a). A player must start (not before) his first time: This means that the player must be ready to play at the start time and the start point set by the Committee; the first time set by the Committee is considered the exact time (for example, 9am means 9:00:00 am, not anytime until 9:01 am).

“If the starting time is delayed for any reason (such as weather, slow play by other teams or the need for a referee's decision), there is no violation of this Law if the player is present and ready to play if the player's team is able to start.

“Penalty for Violation of Rule 5.3a: Disqualification, except in these three cases: Exception 1 – Player Arrives at the Starting Point, Ready to Play, Not More than Five Minutes Behind: The player receives the usual penalty applied to his first hole; Exception 2 – Player Does Not Start Five Minutes Early: The player incurs the usual penalty applied to his first hole; Exception 3 – The Committee Determines that Extraordinary Circumstances Prevent a Player from Starting on Time: There is no violation of this Rule and no penalty.”

This time, Vincent was penalized twice under “unique” – and he was 30 seconds away from being DQ'd.

But why did he drink?

Notably, some posts on his Instagram account may have provided a clue. In it, he was seen earlier in the week playing a hole in the course of the tournament – but the post noted that he was doing so with rental clubs. There was a problem with the airport. On Thursday, the Twitter page of the Asian Tour noted that Vincent had visited Casablanca – about an hour's drive – to pick up his clubs, but could not find them, and played with a rental.

However, there is good news.

After opening with a double bogey due to the penalty, Vincent played seven-under golf from there, and was two strokes off the lead.

Another question:

Are players penalized in less than 5 minutes? It's rare. Most, of course, try to avoid the penalty before hitting the ball, and there are a few examples of players who just don't show up at all.

Then there's Lucas Glover's story for February, which you can read by clicking here, or by scrolling below. Its headline reads: “Due to poor study, top seed withdraws from Phoenix Open.”

***

Eight o'clock. And no Lucas Glover.

Eight-fifteen. And no Lucas Glover.

Eight-twenty-five.

Where is Lucas Glover?

That was almost the scene Thursday at TPC Scottsdale. Lucas Glover, the 2009 US Open winner, was scheduled to tee off at the Waste Management Phoenix Open at 8:26 a.m. local time from Tee No. 1, only that seemed to be news to Glover. But he did care.

According to Rex Hoggard of the Golf Channel, Glover said he received a call from an officer at 8:25 a.m. to inform him of his plight. He had never missed a Tour tee time before, according to Hoggard. But Glover came clean.

“I just misread my messages [that listed my tee time],” Glover told Hoggard. “I'm kicking myself but laughing at myself at the same time.”

There is good news, however.

Glover withdrew. He didn't need to. He wasn't picking up the phone either. But he did it. So Ryo Hisatsune entered in his place.

It is here that you may have some questions, such as:

– Is there a rule covering missed tee times?

Yes. For your foursome friends, you get some names. With an event like the Phoenix Open, you can get one – disqualification. Rule 5.3 reads as follows:

“You have to start (not before or after) your first time. Penalty for Violation of Rule 5.3a: Disqualification.”

Notably, there are exceptions. They learn this way:

“Exception 1 – You Arrive at the First Place, Ready to Play, Gone Five Minutes Later: The normal penalty is applied to your first hole. Exception 2 – You Don't Start Five Minutes Early: The standard penalty is applied to your first hole. Exception 3 – The Committee Determines That Extraordinary Circumstances Prevented Starting On Time: There is no violation of this Rule and no penalty.”

— Did it happen before?

Yes, mistakes happen.

On a quick scan, the same thing happened at the 2021 US Senior Open, when Marcus Meloan did not return after a three-hour storm delay, and Rule 5.3 was applied. On the Golf Channel at the time, USGA chief executive Ben Schade said:

“After that restart, we had a player who was late on the restart,” Schade said on the Golf Channel. “So the restart times, they work very similar to the initial time we would have at the beginning of our round where we need to be ready to play within five minutes of that time, within five minutes of that time, avoid disqualification.

“If we're in that five-minute period, we'll get a two-stroke penalty, and he can play. So for Marcus, he wasn't ready to play in that five-minute window when he restarted, so he was kicked out of the tournament.”

Nick Piastowski

Golf.com Editor

Nick Piastowski is a Senior Editor at Golf.com and Golf Magazine. In his role, he is responsible for planning, writing and promoting news on the golf course. And when he's not writing about how to hit the golf ball forward and straight, the Milwaukee native is probably playing the game, hitting the ball left, right and short, and drinking a cold beer to wash down his scores. You can contact him about any of these topics – his news, his game or his beer – at [email protected].