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:

Gonna try putting with my eyes closed. That should work better

— Willy Wilcox (@willwilcoxgolf) May 6, 2017

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.

Made an oops. Changed putters mid round.. over night.. thats a dq. Called self on it. Buh bye see ya n dallas

— Willy Wilcox (@willwilcoxgolf) May 6, 2017

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

But wait...

Jus got off phone with head rules official from Tour. Its a 4 shot penalty not a DQ. Jus an fyi

— Willy Wilcox (@willwilcoxgolf) May 6, 2017

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.