Ok Tae-hoon, who won four titles including MVP and the money title on the Korea Professional Golfers' Association (KPGA) Tour last year, was disqualified from the second round of the Woori Financial Championship after running out of balls.
Ok left the course without completing his second round at Seowon Valley Country Club's Valley-Seowon course (par 71) in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, on Friday. He had no more balls to use.
Starting from the 10th hole, Ok made the mistake of sending his tee shot on the seventh hole (par 5) off a cliff to the right of the fairway. Believing the ball might be lost, he played a provisional ball. But this one also headed for the cliff. He sent five provisional balls off the cliff in succession, losing a total of six balls on the seventh hole alone. Ok said he had "no more balls to play," and the tournament committee ruled him disqualified.
The KPGA Tour adopts the "one-ball rule" as a local rule. The rule requires players to use balls of the same brand, model and color throughout a round. It could not be confirmed whether Ok, who had used up all his balls, attempted to borrow one from his playing partners or the gallery.
Earlier on the fifth hole (par 4), Ok had carded a quintuple bogey, scoring five strokes over par. His tee shot went into the right rough, and his second shot fell into deep rough to the left of the hole. Ok declared an unplayable ball, took a one-stroke penalty for lateral relief and hit his fourth shot, but the ball did not advance even a yard. After finding the ball in fallen leaves, Ok hit his fifth shot, but this time the ball landed in a bunker in front of the green. His sixth shot from the bunker went into the rough, and it took him a seventh shot to finally get the ball onto the green. He eventually carded a 9 with seven strokes to reach the green and two putts.
It was a rough day for Ok.
