'First Time In My Career And Completely My Fault' - Michael Block Explains Tournament Disqualification
Block was disqualified from the Staysure PGA Seniors Championship, with the American failing to complete his round on Sunday at Trump International Golf Links
It's safe to say that Michael Block endured a rather up-and-down week at the Staysure PGA Seniors Championship, as the American was disqualified from the event on Sunday.
In a statement from tournament organizers, it read: "Michael Block has been disqualified from the Staysure PGA Seniors Championship after failing to complete his final round.
"The ruling comes from the European Tour Group Regulations – “Situations where Player fails to complete a round”.
"1. “Player retires from current round with injury or illness deemed acceptable by the Tournament Director” – official listing is “retired”.
"During the final round of the Staysure PGA Seniors Championship, Michael Block left the course before completing his round and without completing the necessary process of advising Tour officials of any injury or illness.
"As a result the official listing has been recorded as “disqualified” rather than “retired”. Under Rule 3.3c the player is disqualified for failure to hole out under this rule.
"Michael Block was also assessed a two-shot penalty – added to his first hole score – for arriving late to his tee time. Block mistakenly believed his tee-time was 08:33 as opposed to 08:22 causing him to be late."
Block had received a sponsor's invite into the tournament
Following the statement, Block himself took to social media to post his side of events, as the 50-year-old posted an Instagram story explaining the situation.
"Yes, I was a couple of seconds late to my tee time today, got caught up taking pictures for volunteers," stated Block.
"First time in my career and completely my fault. Yes, I did tell my playing partners that I was withdrawing. I strongly recommend certain social media accounts from reporting false information."
Earlier in the week, Block had made a hole-in-one at Trump International Golf Links' par 3 seventh, with the American going on to card a 76, 73 and 78 to sit 11-over through three rounds.
During his final round on Sunday, he shot an opening nine of 43, with the walk-in reportedly coming after a bogey at the 12th.
Block later clarified that the injury came after he hit out of a bush on the 10th hole during his third round, with the American not wanting to make the injury worse after being well out of contention.
In the end, it was Darren Fichardt who claimed the title, as the South African finished 12-under-par and five clear of Mikael Lundberg in second.
