PGA Tour

Tour pro disqualified (then not) from Wells Fargo Championship after rules snafu

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 3:45 p.m. ET

Sports Illustrated, Josh Berhow/Golf.com

Willy Wilcox might have had a difficult time making the cut at the Wells Fargo Championship, but he never got the chance due to an error made by a PGA Tour rules official.

Wilcox was three over for the tournament when play was called Friday night, so he returned to the course to finish the final five holes of his second round on Saturday morning. But when he decided to switch his putter over night it put him over the maximum of 14 clubs in his bag.

The 30-year-old noticed his mistake and notified a rules official, and it was decided that he was disqualified.

However, according to a series of Wilcox tweets, the PGA Tour called him 20 minutes later to correct the error. It would instead be a four-stroke penalty — Rule 4-4, two shots per hole, maximum of four strokes — and not a DQ. Problem was, Wilcox had already left the course, meaning his Wells Fargo result would officially go down as a WD.

@ToddABailey it was a 4 shotter after i was told it was a DQ. If they would've gotten it right I would've been 5 off cut with 4 to play.— Willy Wilcox (@willwilcoxgolf) May 6, 2017

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