Two golfers sensationally snuck into the Black Desert Championship and were allowed to stay after PGA Tour bosses decided not to kick them out. Chris Korte and John Sands reaped the rewards of a bizarre clerical error despite having no right to play in the competition.
PGA Tour events like the Black Desert Championship host a Monday qualifier, in which unqualified players battle it out over 18 holes for the final spots. Players of a certain status can sign up to play in any Monday qualifiers, while the rest have to make it through a pre-qualifier event.
Players who are not exempt have to play in a pre-qualifier event and must pay thousands of pounds to take part in them, but Korte and Sand saved themselves a huge amount of money by skipping it altogether.
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They were two of four players on the entry list for Monday's qualifier despite not playing in the pre-qualifier event, according to Monday Q Info. Riley Lewis and RJ Manke were also listed in the field, with the PGA blaming their surprise inclusion on a clerical error.
A spokesperson for the Utah PGA was quoted as saying: "It is our first PGA Tour Monday and he just made an error. He has done hundreds of tournaments without an issue. He just missed this one."
Other players in the Monday qualifier noticed the inclusion of the four non-exempt golfers and tournament officials responded to their questions by removing them from the field. However, they were later reinstated with the decision being overturned less than an hour later.
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The PGA Tour were notified of the situation and held a meeting with their legal department to settle on the best course of action. Eventually, they decided to allow the four players back in despite none of them meeting the entry requirements for Monday's qualifier.
Korte and Sand went on to make it through to the Black Desert Championship, each carding a round of 64 to book their place in the tournament. However, there was no such luck for Manke and Lewis, who both came up short in spite of their best efforts.
This week's Black Desert Championship is a new event on the PGA Tour and marks the third tournament of the FedEx Cup Fall. It features a prize purse of around £5.7million, with the winner claiming the top prize of £994,000.
