Korn Ferry Tour Pro Loses Out on PGA Tour Card After Heartbreaking Mistake

ABC’s Wide World of Sports has nothing on the Korn Ferry Tour Championship.

If you’re of a certain age, you’ll recall that the network’s weekend sports offerings had the tagline: the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat.

The thrill of victory included the top-30 finishers at Victoria National in Indiana, including this clutch putt by Roger Sloan, who finished 29^th thanks to this putt.

A big putt in a big moment.

A par save on 18 keeps @RogerSloan87 inside the top 30. He is projected as No. 29 on the Points List. pic.twitter.com/S8TCkFzru1

— Korn Ferry Tour (@KornFerryTour) October 8, 2023

It appeared that the agony of defeat belonged to Rafael Campos, who finished 31^st.

But it wound up belonging to Shad Tuten.

After finishing up a 2-over 74 round on Sunday, he was sitting in just inside the top 30.

He was informed, however, that he was being assessed a two-stroke penalty for what occurs at the 45-second mark in this video.

Shad Tuten was assessed a two-stroke penalty on hole No. 15 under preferred lies local rule E-3, turning a 2-over 74 into a 4-over 76. Tuten also fell from projected No. 30 on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List to No. 32.

Chief referee Jim Duncan provided context on the ruling. pic.twitter.com/a5qXcqJLFC

— Korn Ferry Tour (@KornFerryTour) October 8, 2023

Tuten didn’t try to place the ball back in the same spot after it rolled, and that turned his birdie on the 15^th hole into a bogey, dropping him from 30^th to 32^nd in the final points rundown.

Campos wound up being the beneficiary of the penalty, moving into the 30^th spot.

As for Tuten, who has never played in a PGA Tour event, he’ll have to try again next year. He played 23 Korn Ferry Tour events this year with five top 10s, including a runner-up finish.

Cover Image via Golf Magazine