Lydia Ko was awarded a 7-stroke penalty
The 2023 Dana Open was laced with rainfall. During the third round of the event, officials allowed players to lift, clean, and place their golf balls on all of the 18 holes. However, the weather was much better on the 4th day. But since the course still had a lot of moisture, Lydia Ko continued to follow the steps on the 3rd, 7th, 9th, and 11th holes. That’s when she realized her mistake and brought it to the attention of the officials. The event officials ended up penalizing her two strokes each for the 3rd, 7th, and 9th holes, and 1 stroke for the 11th hole.
That totaled to a 7-stroke penalty for the former major winner. But as per the rules set by the officials at the beginning of the round, Players were allowed to continue to lift, clean, and wipe the golf balls from holes 1 to 10. Based on these rules, Ko should have only been penalized 1 stroke. However, the on-ground event staff made a major blunder and wrongfully gave a much larger and more drastic penalty to Lydia Ko.
There are many more incidents of pro golfers being wronged just in the last couple of years. There needs to be a better centralized governing body that can investigate such situations closely and make the right decisions. Because in the heat of the moment, you can never predict if the player, caddie, officials, or even fans can be trusted to follow the rule books accurately.
