Australian PGA champion slapped with two-shot penalty on the last hole in Dubai that cost him almost $400,000

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[Photo: Anadolu]

David Puig did not play his best golf during the final round of the Dubai Desert Classic. The 24-year-old from Spain entered the final round in second place, four shots behind playing partner and eventual winner Patrick Reed.

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Three bogeys in a five-hole stretch on the back nine at Emirates Golf Club put him well off the lead and it was clear that he would not capture his second DP World Tour title, after winning the BMW Australian PGA Championship in late November.

Puig made par on the last hole to shoot what he thought was a one-over 73, which landed him in a tie for third place with Julien Guerrier. England’s Andy Sullivan finished in second place.

Moments later, Puig was slapped with a two-stroke penalty on the last hole for grounding his club in a greenside bunker on his third shot so his final score was a 75. He was not aware of what he did, but when shown a replay of the shot he agreed it was a violation and was assessed the penalty because he touched the sand while addressing the ball, violating rule 12.2b.

Instead of a third-place tie that would have given him $US508,500, he tied for seventh place with Ricardo Gouveia and Marcus Armitage, earning $US234,000. Yes, that’s a difference of nearly $US275,000 ($A397,000). That doesn’t even include all the wasted world-ranking points he would’ve received, as he’s on Sergio Garcia’s Fireballs LIV Golf squad, which is not eligible to earn points.

Puig moved from 99th in the world to 94th but could’ve certainly moved closer to the top-50 mark, which would help him get into all four major championships this year.