David Puig made an early run against Patrick Reed in Dubai on Sunday, but his tournament collapsed with a back-nine slide, including an extremely costly post-round penalty.
The young LIV Golf star cut Reed’s lead to two at the turn, but a bogey at the par-5 13th and another drop shot at the par-3 15th ended his lead. Hero Dubai Desert Classic hunt for the title. However, the young Spaniard was still in line for a top-three finish when he arrived at the final hole.
Puig tapped in for a closing par to finish in a tie for third place, but as he walked away from the green he got bad news. Puig’s approach shot landed in the greenside bunker, and he accidentally grounded his club before his third swing. Puig was unaware that he had committed the foul, but the foul was spotted by tournament referee Graeme Storm on the television feed.
The two-shot penalty left Puig in a tie for seventh place, meaning he earned $232,200 instead of $508,500. That means Puig’s accidental club ground cost him $276,300.
That money won’t make a big dent in Puig’s wallet, as the 24-year-old has already earned more than $20 million since joining LIV Golf. However, that is money that Puig could have spent on the DP World Tour fines he will have to pay once the LIV season starts. Puig has said that while the fines will be expensive, he has no problem paying them so he can remain a member of the tour he grew up watching.
“In my case, I want to be part of the tour, so I will do everything I can to remain part of it. If that means paying any amount, I will do it,” Puig told reporters on Friday. via bunkered.co.uk.
“It’s expensive, of course, but I’m willing to do that. That’s why I joined the tour. We’ll see what happens. I don’t really know what’s going to happen, but in my case I’m willing to do as much as I can to be part of this tour.”
Puig’s bunker accident played no role in the outcome of the tournament, as Reed cruised to a four-shot victory over Andy Sullivan.
Afterwards, Reed revealed that while he plans to play in LIV’s season-opening event in Saudi Arabia, he is not currently under contract with the Breakaway League.
“We are still finalizing the [LIV Golf] contract. We are not quite done with that yet,” Reed said at the press conference of his winner.
Reed said he still plans to be in the field for the season-opening event, but is currently a free agent.
“Not that I know of. Not at this point. It all depends on everything, really,” Reed said. “I mean, I haven’t spoken to the team back home or anything like that yet. But right now I’m planning on doing it there in Riyadh, and I’d be surprised if that’s not the case.”
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