DP World Tour competitor slams 'absurd' stakes at European Masters

“A day to forget but a day for the @DPWorldTour refs to forget,” Smith wrote. “The fastest this green has ever been by far but they still decided to use the same old pins and the strong wind today. Even though there were good conditions yesterday, a few deputies were joking.”

Then a few minutes later, Smith added: “And the forecast was out at 6am and the start time was 7:30/45 so we had time to change!”

Winds of 35 mph caused scores to balloon on Saturday, resulting in the field averaging 74.16, nearly five shots higher than in the first two rounds, which averaged 69.83 and 69.81, respectively.

After a third round 73, Matt Wallace led the field by four shots, and shared his thoughts on the course's difficulty.

“It's brutal, it's really hard,” Wallace said. “I felt I hit the ball well, in the right places – it was the wrong places by the looks of it.

“Today was not an average shootout,” he continued. “It was about keeping my track and I did that and I'll try to take the ego out of the three points, I'm not happy with that kind of score but maybe I left two or three shots and it was an unbelievable score.”

According to Golf Channel analyst Jim Gallagher, Jr., Smith's appeal was warranted.

“It's a legitimate gripe, especially on the 12th hole,” Gallagher said on “Golf Central.” “Perhaps they were caught thinking that it won't hit hard. But when you start putting balls on the green and you get into the penalty areas, it's a bit funny. And we saw that, especially in the back nine. Some areas with holes were iffy. You get the greens as fast as they've been going, the wind is blowing like that, it's going to be stupid.”

After a final round of 67 on Sunday to reach five under par, Smith ended up finishing T12 – six shots clear of Wallace's 11 under. Wallace eventually clinched his fifth DP World Tour victory – and first DP World Tour win in six years – by defeating Spain's Alfredo Garcia-Heredia with a birdie on the first qualifying hole.

Golf.com Editor

As a four-year member of Columbia's first varsity golf class, Jessica knows how to outrun everyone on the golf course. He can pass them through the office, too, where he is primarily responsible for producing both print and online features, and overseeing major special projects, such as GOLF's first Style Issue, which began in February 2018. His first interview series, “A Round With,” released in November 2015, and appeared in both magazine and video form on GOLF.com.