Shad Tuten penalized two strokes at Korn Ferry Tour Championship, misses out on TOUR card

NEWBURGH, Indiana – Shad Tuten was assessed a two-stroke penalty after completing the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance after failing to properly replace his ball on the par-5 15th fairway.

The penalty kept Tuten from earning his first PGA TOUR card.

Tuten’s score was adjusted from birdie to bogey at the par-5 15th hole, changing his final-round score at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship from a 2-over 74 to a 4-over 76.

The penalty moved Tuten from T19 to T28 on the leaderboard. With a T19, he would have finished No. 30 on the season-ending Korn Ferry Tour Points List and earned his first PGA TOUR card. Tuten finished No. 32 on the Points List.

The Rules Committee cited Local Rule for Preferred Lies (Model Local Rule E-3) in assessing the penalty. Tuten lifted his ball in the fairway at the par-5 15th at Victoria National Golf Club – the field played lift, clean and place on Sunday – and the ball rolled slightly upon placement, deviating from its original position.

“Well, there was a video of him trying to place his ball under the lift, clean and place local rule. I think it's pretty clear in the video that when he placed it one time, the ball rolled forward a little bit,” said Jim Duncan, Korn Ferry Tour Vice President of Rules, Competition and Administration.

“Unfortunately that rule requires you to try to replace it on the exact same spot again, and then if it won't stay at rest that's when you find the nearest place that you do, just like any other rule that requires placing. When he did not try to place that ball right back on the same spot, that's when he was under penalty -- two shots for playing from the wrong place.”

The top 30 players on the season-ending Korn Ferry Tour Points List, finalized after the Korn Ferry Tour Championship, earned 2024 PGA TOUR membership. Tuten, 31, has never held PGA TOUR membership.