NEWS

Willy Wilcox calls rules violation on himself at Wells Fargo Championship

By Daniel Wilco
Published on
Willy Wilcox calls rules violation on himself at Wells Fargo Championship

Willy Wilcox had quite the roller coaster of a tournament at Eagle Point.

The 30-year-old shot a 71 in Round 1 of the Wells Fargo Championship after not having time for a practice round, but racked up five bogeys in his first 12 holes of Round 2. Apparently unsatisfied with his putting, Wilcox took to Twitter:

But before he could finish his round, weather forced the tournament to suspend Round 2 play until Saturday morning, leaving Wilcox staring at a 4-over scorecard for the evening. Overnight, the pro decided a change to his bag might help his short game, so he switched out putters.

One problem: Technically, he was still in the middle of his second round.

Wilcox realized the slip up, and contacted a rules official Saturday morning to alert them of his mistake.

Ouch. A small mental error that ended up with a huge consequence.

But wait...

That's some small consolation. While better than a disqualification, a four shot penalty is still pretty painful (especially in the midst of a 4-over round), and practically just as hard to recover from.

At least that's what it seems Wilcox thought, as he withdrew from the tournament before finishing his second round.