PGA golf star pays big penalty after breaking one of the Tour’s newest rules

Davis Riley was hit with a two-stroke penalty during the second round of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson after accidentally breaking one of the PGA Tour’s newest rules.

Davis Riley was hit with a two-stroke penalty during the second round of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson on Saturday, after inadvertently violating one of the PGA Tour’s latest rules. Riley ended up in a scramble to make the cut after mistakenly using the slope feature on his rangefinder, a device currently being tested at PGA Tour events to enhance the speed of play. Ex-Open champion Brian Harman was among those who recently voiced their thoughts on the rule change, which was implemented following Rory McIlroy’s victory at the Masters last month.

Golfers are only permitted to use the distance function on the device and not any advanced features, such as the slope feature. However, Riley unknowingly used the forbidden feature while preparing for his tee shot on the 17th hole and promptly informed a rules official.

He was penalised with a two-stroke penalty, which pushed him below the cut line at three-under-par. Despite this setback, Riley managed to salvage his tournament by hitting an eagle on the 18th hole and making the cut, but he was still devastated by the costly error on the 17th.

“Unfortunately, it was just kind of one of those moments where your heart sinks a little bit, like you’re just throwing away two shots,” Riley told the media when questioned about his mistake.

It is what it is. That’s the rules of golf. And we certainly have a trial period here with this, and I know the (United States Golf Association) is trying to do something about the rangefinder and the pace of play.”

Due to inclement weather on Friday, golfer Riley had to postpone completing his second round at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson until Saturday. Following his costly mistake not long after the round began, tournament chiefs have sternly warned him of disqualification should he make another slip-up with his rangefinder’s slope function.

Riley said: “In that moment, I was just, like, ‘Wow’. It’s just one of those times that it just sucks. It was a tough deal, and it’s just a bad break.

The CJ Cup Byron Nelson has become the third PGA Tour event to test rangefinders to speed up the pace of play, in a trial lasting six months. Speaking about the significance of his own mistake, Riley said: “It’s very important to me because I love this game. That’s kind of something my coaches from a young age, my parents instilled in me.