Mark Roe and Jesper Parnevik sign the wrong scorecards and are thrown out for violating rule.
By BOB HARIG
Published July 20, 2003
SANDWICH, England - Mark Roe narrowly missed a birdie putt, and the crowd at the 18th hole was awash in pride and glory. Roe, an Englishman, blew them kisses, and they celebrated one of their own having a chance to win the British Open.
Fifteen minutes later, the feel-good story Saturday at Royal St. George's had been blown away in the wind, the victim of golf's unforgiving rulebook.
Roe and Jesper Parnevik had failed to exchange scorecards on the first tee, meaning they kept score on the wrong card for the round. When the error wasn't noticed and the players signed incorrect cards, they were in violation of the rules. Both were disqualified under Rule 6-6d.
For Roe, it was a devastating blow. He had shot one of the best rounds of the day, a 4-under-par 67 that put him at 214, 1 over par. He would have started the final round two shots behind leader Thomas Bjorn.
"I enjoyed the crowds, I enjoyed the attention, it was a real thrill," said Roe, 40, a three-time winner on the PGA European Tour who never has finished better than 16th in 12 Opens. "And I'm going to think about that rather than the disqualification. I'm going to take something positive from it. I'm not going to walk away with a negative because it's been a great week. I love the Open Championship.
"I should probably go out and shed a tear in private, to be honest with you, but at the end when I see my kids, this won't seem so bad."
Roe took the high road, blaming himself.
"The rules are there to protect the game of golf," he said. "And we adhere to the rules of golf. ... There's no one else to blame but myself."
Parnevik did not view the situation that way. The Swede shot 81 and was well out of contention but felt terrible for Roe. He said both players were in the scorer's hut for 10 minutes going over their cards with officials. In fact, four groups later, those same officials noticed that Phillip Price and Stuart Appleby had committed the same error. They caught the mistake and kept the players from being disqualified.
"It's just stupid," Parnevik said. "Everybody in the world saw what we shot today. I don't even know why we have to keep a scorecard. We have a scorer with the group. It's not fair. It's not like somebody is trying to cheat by writing down the wrong score. You couldn't do that anyway. You can foot wedge the ball out of the rough and get a one-stroke penalty. You do this and get disqualified."
Parnevik explained that at PGA Tour events, players are handed the scorecard of their competitors. They keep that card throughout the round, then sign their own after verifying all the scores are correct.
Through the years, myriad scorecard infractions have cost players to varying degrees. The most famous occurred at the 1968 Masters, where Roberto De Vicenzo was denied a chance at a playoff when he signed an incorrect card. If a player signs for a score worse than the one he shot, he must keep that score. Scorer Tommy Aaron had written down 4 at the 71st hole when De Vicenzo actually had taken 3.
