Padraig Harrington has been disqualified from the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.
The disqualification stems from an incident on the seventh hole during Harrington’s first round. As he replaced his ball on the putting green, Harrington inadvertently nudged the ball fractionally forward, believing the ball had oscillated back to its original spot. The three-time major winner finished the hole signed for a 3 and eventually a score 7-under 65.
A few hours later, however, a television viewer contacted the European Tour, drawing the attention of Andy McFee, the chief referee on site. McFee reviewed the video Friday morning and made the decision the ball had not moved back to its original position.
Under the Rules of Golf there is no infraction because the ball can be placed back to its original position, but because Harrington failed to do this he was assessed a penalty of two shots. Having already signed his card for a 3 instead of a 5, the ultimate fate was disqualification.
