Major champion DQs himself after bizarre mistake

There have been plenty of firsts in Justin Leonard’s career.

His first PGA Tour win in 1996. His first (and only) major win at The Open a year later. His first appearance on the US Senior circuit in 2022.

Now the 52-year-old can add “first time disqualifying myself for using a rangefinder illegally” to his ever-growing list of weird and wonderful golfing experiences.

And it must be said that this incident at a PGA Champions event – as reported by the excellent Monday Q Info on X – definitely falls into the weird category.

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Leonard was competing in the Rogers Charity Classic at Canyon Meadows Golf & Country Club in Canada. The $2.4million event in Alberta was won by the American Ken Tanigawa, who edged out the likes of Richard Green and Darren Clarke.

But for Leonard, the tournament was over before it had even really begun. That’s because just eight holes into his first round, he realised the slope function on his rangefinder was turned on and called the mistake on himself.

Rangefinders are allowed in PGA Tour Champions events, but the Rules of Golf strictly state that they cannot be used in tournament play to measure elevation changes.

That’s exactly what the slope function does, and Leonard alerted an official as soon as he realised the error he had made.

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As well as on the PGA Tour Champions circuit, rangefinders are now used in PGA of America events such as the PGA Championship, Women’s PGA Championship and the Senior PGA Championship.

The devices, though, need to conform to the Rules of Golf, specifically Rule 4.3a (1), which pertains to ‘Distance and Directional Information’.

It includes the following conditions:

Allowed – Getting information on distance or direction (such as from a distance-measuring device or compass).

Not Allowed – Measuring elevation changes, or interpreting distance or directional information (such as using a device to get a recommended line of play or club selection based on the location of the player’s ball).

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.