By Joel Beall
Even by their byzantine and bizarre nature, it’s been a rough go for the Rules of Golf in 2019. Still, this story involving Jesper Parnevik and a mulligan not taken puts other oddities to shame.

During the final round of the SAS Championship, Parnevik missed a short bogey putt that horseshoed around the hole and ultimately hit his foot. From there, Parnevik tapped in what remained for his double.

Only to find out that he really carded a triple.

That’s because Parnevik was entitled to replay the original bogey putt under Rule 11.1.b, Exception 2. Yes, that’s the real terminology:

When Ball Played from Putting Green Accidentally Hits Any Person, Animal or Movable Obstruction (Including Another Ball in Motion) on Putting Green: The stroke does not count and the original ball or another ball must be replaced on its original spot (which if not known must be estimated).

However, because Parnevik failed to do so, he incurred a penalty.

And that was only after officials called into the USGA, according to rules official Brian Claar, as the crew at the SAS was confused.

“They said ‘did that really happen out there’?,” Claar told Reuters. “He actually gets a mulligan. It’s strange you get a do-over because there’s (generally) no such thing as a do-over unless you hit a power line or something. He should have put it back and tried again.”

The situation was so rare, according to Claar, that the USGA couldn’t recall the incident happening in a professional tournament.

The snaffu did not decide the event; Parnevik finished 22 strokes behind winner Jerry Kelly. That it happened away from the PGA Tour spotlight also buries its frequency. Nevertheless, the already-high bar for rules run-ins has been raised. We can only pray the next affair involves an illegal driver, pace of play and the Goodyear Blimp.

The post Pro receiving penalty for NOT taking mulligan is the weirdest rules controversy of 2019 appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By John Strege
It was only an illusion, the appearance that Bernhard Langer, at 61, had begun his initial descent to age-induced mediocrity. His six-shot victory in the SAS Championship on Sunday put that notion to rest.

It was his second victory of the season (he has finished second five times), second in the SAS Championship (he won in 2012) and his 38th on the PGA Tour Champions, second only to Hale Irwin’s 45.

Langer shot a seven-under par 65 at Prestonwood Country Club in Cary, N.C., equaling the lowest round of the day. He played 54 holes in a tournament record 22-under par 194. Scott Parel finished second by also shooting a 65, while Langer’s 36-hole co-leader Gene Sauers shot a three-over 75 and tied for fifth.

“I knew I was close,” Langer said. “But there was always something missing in the puzzle. Either the driver wasn’t good enough or the putter or the irons. This week was very special. It was pretty amazing.”

The illusion was the result of Langer only having won once previously this year, in the wake of his best season on the senior tour, when he won seven times.

The reality is that heading into the three-tournament Charles Schwab Cup playoffs, Langer leads the tour in Schwab Cup earnings with $1,918,904 and is tied for the tour lead in top 10s with 12.

Moreover, he is the defending champion in two of the three playoff events, including the Dominion Energy Charity Classic on deck.

“Any time you’ve won on a course before, you feel comfortable, you like the place,” he said.

RELATED: Bernhard Langer named the 2018 winner of the PGA Tour’s Payne Stewart Award

This victory was a record fourth since turning 60. Irwin is second with three.

“We all age and it shows,” Langer said. “Things are hurting and aching that didn’t hurt 10 or 20 years ago, but that’s life and you just make the best of it. The good thing is the golf ball doesn’t know how old I am.

Langer opened the SAS Championship with rounds of 62 and 67, as did Sauers, the two of them turning the final round into a two-man competition. For awhile.

The lead for Langer became three through nine holes, then on the par-4 10th it doubled to six, when Langer made a birdie and Sauers a double bogey. The rest was simply a victory lap for Langer, who played a bogey-free round.

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By John Strege

Colin Montgomerie on Sunday shot a flawless eight-under par 64 and posted his second victory in his last four starts, a boost of momentum heading into the Charles Schwab Cup playoffs in his perennial pursuit of Bernhard Langer.

On the back nine at the Prestonwood Country Club in Cary, N.C., Montgomerie, a World Golf Hall of Fame member, broke free from a crowded leaderboard and won the SAS Championship by four strokes.

It was his second victory of the season — he won the Japan Airlines Open a month ago — and sixth of his PGA Tour Champions Career.

Related: Omega Dubai Desert Classic line-up is again the full Monty

But he has his sights set on a bigger, though more elusive prize: The Charles Schwab Cup and its $1 million bonus. For three straight years, he has finished second to Langer.

“Obviously, we’re all trying to catch the German, you know?” Montgomerie said on Saturday. “That’s what we’re doing the last bloody three years, and let’s hope somebody can do it this time, but he’s the standard and all credit to him.”

Up next is the first of three Schwab Cup playoff events, the Dominion Energy Charity Classic next week in Richmond, Va.

“I was just delighted today,” Montgomerie said. “I was pressed hard by Vijay [Singh] and Doug Garwood and Corey Pavin, especially early on, with three great champions. It’s difficult, you know. Vijay’s got length on me, so he’s got that great asset. So I had to keep it going. That was darn near as good as I could do, really, eight under.

“To score 64 when it matters gives you a lot of confidence, and the playoffs are important, obviously. I want to try to get this Charles Schwab Cup for the first time. There’s no one going in there with as much confidence. It’s just a matter of getting over this as quick as possible and starting all again.”

Montgomerie’s victory here earned him $315,000 and moved him to seventh on the Schwab Cup points list. Langer, in pursuit of a fourth straight Schwab Cup, is the leader.

Montgomerie, 54, played a bogey-free round that included eight birdies. He birdied the 12th, 14th and 15th holes to break from a tie with Corey Pavin, and added another birdie at the par-5 17th hole.

Singh and Doug Garwood each shot six-under par 66s to tie for second, while Pavin, with two back-nine bogeys, fell to fourth place.

Jerry Kelly, who shared the 36-hole lead with Montgomerie and Peter Price, shot a 70, ending a streak of 16 consecutive rounds in the 60s.

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