PGA Tour professional Joel Dahmen has been slapped with a severe four-stroke penalty for carrying an extra club during the Shriners Children's Open. The unfortunate mishap could significantly harm his chances of maintaining his tour status.
The 36-year-old golfer, who is vying to secure his place on the PGA Tour for the 2025 season, faced the daunting penalty after unwittingly discovering he had one too many irons in his bag, bringing his total to 15 clubs rather than the permitted 14.
Ranking at No. 124 in the FedEx Cup Fall rankings, with only the top 125 securing full status for next year's campaign, Dahmen was unaware of the additional 4-iron which saw him penalised as dictated by the strict rules of the United States Golf Association (USGA).
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As per the USGA regulations: "Two Penalty Strokes, Maximum of Four Strokes: You get the general penalty (two penalty strokes) for each hole where a breach happened, with a maximum of four penalty strokes in the round (adding two penalty strokes at each of the first two holes where a breach happened)."
With the damaging punishment, Dahmen's score transformed from an even-par 72 to a disappointing 76, putting him under considerable pressure to make the cut on Friday. Reflecting on the oversight, which he admitted marked a first in his career, Dahmen disclosed his routine of carrying up to 16 clubs, admitting that neither he nor his team noticed the duplicate 4-iron: "Never happened to me before," he shared about the gaffe, reports the Mirror.
Dahmen - who earned his only PGA Tour win at the 2021 Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship - realised his error on the fourth tee when he spotted that his 4-iron was not in its usual place. He added: "You just want to get so mad and you want to get mad at everything.
"At the same time, just got to keep playing golf, and I didn't do a great job of that afterwards." With four events left on the FedEx Cup Fall calendar after this week's Shriners Children's Open, Dahmen knows he has plenty to do to secure his Tour card. The American also starred in the sports documentary series Full Swing in February 2023.
