Akshay Bhatia And J.T. Poston Involved In Rules Incidents At Separate Tour Events
The pair are plying their trade on different Tours this week, but both found themselves plagued by the rules during their second rounds


The 2025 golf season is underway and, with big tournaments already taking place, players are looking to start their year in the best way possible.
At the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, Akshay Bhatia is making his debut, with the American opting for the DP World Tour tournament. However, during his second round, Bhatia was undone by a bizarre ruling.
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Playing at Emirates GC, Bhatia found himself in trouble off the tee on the 13th hole. Faced with no real option, the 22-year-old opted to chip out and on to the eighth fairway.
Now, you may wonder, what's the issue with that? Well, as it turns out, the eighth fairway was deemed to be internal out of bounds for those playing the 13th. Therefore, Bhatia had hit into an out of bounds area, thus receiving a penalty.
After chipping out, a rules official approached Bhatia and explained the situation, with the American then responding: "On the sheet it didn’t say that, though.”
Many were bemused by the situation, including the broadcast team, with the internal OB rule on the 13th hole listed at the bottom of the sheet. After the debacle, Bhatia chipped out on to the 13th and made a double bogey on the par 5. He would, thankfully, make the cut and get into the weekend.
Bhatia chats to a referee during his second round at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic
It wasn't just Bhatia who found himself in a rules situation. Across the globe at The American Express, J.T Poston was playing the Pete Dye Stadium Course and, on the par 4 second, noticed that his golf ball had moved as he was addressing it.
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Calling over his playing partner, Jake Knapp, they both agreed that Poston hadn't caused the ball to move, with a PGA Tour rules official then called in to discuss the situation.
The 31-year-old explained that his golf ball had rolled back, with it being on an upslope, but the club hadn't touched it. What followed was a lengthy wait as the officials reviewed the footage to see what had transpired.
Poston's last victory on the PGA Tour came in October 2024
With a possible penalty stroke looming, Poston was clearly occupied and frustrated, as a four-over-par front nine eliminated all the hard work of his 10-under-par 62 on Thursday, a score that had put him amongst the leaders.
In the end, it was determined that the American would not get a penalty, an announcement that took a near two hours. Following the revelation, Poston fired a level-par back nine for a four-over-par round, with the three-time PGA Tour winner sat in a share of 58th.

Matt joined Golf Monthly in February 2021 covering weekend news, before also transitioning to equipment and testing. After freelancing for Golf Monthly and The PGA for 18 months, he was offered a full-time position at the company in October 2022 and continues to cover news and social media.
Taking up the game when he was just seven years of age, Matt made it into his county squad just a year later and continues to play the game at a high standard, with a handicap of around 2-4. To date, his best round came in 2016, where he shot a six-under-par 66 having been seven-under through nine holes. His favorite player is Rory McIlroy, despite nearly being struck by his second shot at the 17th during the 2015 BMW PGA Championship.
Matt’s current What’s In The Bag?
Driver: Honma TW747, 8.75°
Fairway Wood: Ping G430 LST 15°, 19°
Irons: TaylorMade P.7CB
Wedges: Cleveland 588 RTX 2.0 Tour Satin, 50°, 56°, 60°
Putter: Cleveland TFI 2135 Satin Cero
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
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