A disagreement with the scorer and the other players in his game forced tournament officials to view footage from cameras around the green to decide and disqualify Kamaiu Johnson after the second round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Arnold Palmer Invitational, results
It all started with the umpires’ decision to place Nick Hardy, Kyle Westmoreland and Kamaiu Johnson’s game under slow-play supervision.
Wanting to avoid another warning, Hardy and Wesmoreland left the green of the 9th without waiting for Johnson to complete the hole to quickly go to the tee of the 10th.
The scorer designated to follow the game scored 7 for Kamaiu Johnson when the American, invited by the organizers as in 2021, missed two small putts.
This is confirmed by ShotLink, the system that centralizes all shots on the PGA Tour.
However, when the three men arrived at the “recording” at the end of their 2nd round, Johnson claimed to have made 6 out of 9. The scorer and the referee, who timed the game, had however confirmed to Nick Hardy, the Johnson’s marker, that they had counted 7 shots.
Unable to formally contradict him, Hardy let Kamaiu Johnson sign an “incorrect” card.
A few hours later? the player was informed by the officials that a review of the cameras around the green confirmed that he had shot 7 and not 6.
Consequently? it was decided to disqualify him as required by the rules.
At this stage? no further disciplinary action has been taken against the winner of the 2022 APGA Diversity Player Award, who previously enjoyed invites to the Farmers Insurance Open in 2022, as well as Pebble Beach and the Honda Classic in 2021.
At +7 or +8 total after 36 holes, Johnson would not have made the cut anyway and it therefore seems unlikely that the player deliberately wanted to cheat.
The rules of golf are relatively complicated compared to other sports because they apply outdoors, close to nature and animals. Respect for the rules is a basic element in the game of golf which, almost always based on self-control and the free conscience of the players, often sees distorted results, sometimes consciously, but often unconsciously or lightly, due to non-compliance by many players of the game rules. In addition to the rules, golf adheres to a code of conduct, known as etiquette, which generally means playing your game with due respect to the golf course and other players. Etiquette is an essential component of this sport.
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