Davis Riley Assessed Two-Stroke Penalty After Rangefinder Incident At CJ Cup Byron Nelson

Rangefinders are being trialled in a PGA Tour event for only the fourth time at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, but the use of a distance measuring device has already led to one player incurring a costly penalty.

The PGA Tour has confirmed that Davis Riley self-reported a two-stroke penalty at the TPC Craig Ranch event after using the slope feature on his distance measuring device.

That’s not permitted during the trial period, with an article on the PGA Tour’s official website confirming in April that “Players must ensure the device measures distance only. All other features such as course mapping, club selection advice and measuring slope, elevation and wind must be disabled prior to using the device during competition.”

Riley’s mistake came during the second round of the weather-delayed tournament on the 17^th, his eighth of the day. There, he was five under for the tournament and inside the projected cutline. However, the two-stroke penalty meant he dropped to three under and outside the projected cutline, giving him work to do to make it beyond 36 holes.

He began addressing that issue immediately with a birdie at the 18^th to move back above the projected cutline, before a setback on the 12^th with a bogey. Once again, though, Riley bounced back straight away with his third birdie of the round to move back to the right side of the line. Eventually, he finished his round with an eagle to make the cut on the number.

Riley’s error was not the only mistake that has led to a penalty on the PGA Tour in recent weeks. At April’s Corales Puntacana Championship, five-time PGA Tour winner Ben Crane played a wrong ball, which led to his disqualification.

The use of rangefinders on the PGA Tour is being trialled with a view to helping address the issue of slow play. They were first permitted in the RBC Heritage, while they were also used at the Corales Puntacana Championship and the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Following the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, they will also be in use at the Truist Championship and the Myrtle Beach Classic.