England’s Mark Roe was disqualified from the 132nd Open Golf Championship after a scorecard mix up at Royal St George’s.
Roe and playing partner Jesper Parnevik did not exchange their scorecards and the error was not discovered until it was too late. As a result they were both disqualified for signing for the wrong score under 6-6d of the rules of golf, Royal and Ancient officials said.
Moments earlier Roe had completed what he believed to be a stunning 67, four under par, to claim the clubhouse lead at Royal St George’s at one under par but his hopes of challenging for the title on the final day were dashed when the error was discovered.
“It was quite a comical error really,” said a philosophical Roe afterwards. “We didn’t change scorecards on the first tee for some reason, Jesper and I, so I wrote down his scores on my card and he wrote my scores on his card. I checked that scorecard three times when I came in, checked the figures counted them up with the scorer and nobody in the scorers hut noticed we had the wrong scorecards so we were disqualified.
“What can I do. I have just played one of the greatest rounds of my life and I can’t play tomorrow. I am extremely disappointed. I am usually very diligent, very careful with the scorecard and it is just an accident, a freak thing. It is the first time it has ever happened and probably at the most costly time. But at the end of the day that is life and I will go home and see my wife and children.
“Jesper is gutted for me. Nothing we can do and life goes on. I feel a little numb, a little upset but you can’t take away the fact that I have just played well today, hit the shots I wanted to. I could possibly have gone on tomorrow and had a hood day tomorrow as well but I won’t have that opportunity now.
“The rules are there to protect the game. They are part of the history and tradition of the game and unfortunately that is the rules and I am no bigger than the game or the rules.”
Before the error was discovered Roe and the golfing world had believed he held the clubhouse lead at one over par having matched the lowest score of the week. At the time he described his golf as “a bit of a rollercoaster” but he could not have imagined his Open Championship could go from such a high to the low of disqualification in a matter of minutes.
Nick Faldo, runner-up the last time the Open Championship was played at Royal St George’s, was the first player of the week to shoot 67, four under par, as he moved up from the cut line to four over par and was followed by Swedish Ryder Cup player Pierre Fulke, who advanced to three over par.
Philip Price, winner of the Smurfit European Open earlier this month, shot a two under par to post the early clubhouse target of two over par 215.
