Tour Pro Self-Reports Two-Stroke Penalty At Black Desert Championship

Perrine Delacour has been assessed a two-stroke penalty following an incident towards the end of the third round of the LPGA Tour’s Black Desert Championship.

The French player was on the 18^th when she adjudged herself to have improved her lie, leading to her self-reporting the error and being hit with the penalty. That meant her day finished on a disappointing note, turning what would have been a par for a round of one-over into a double bogey for a three-over 75.

The penalty was confirmed by the LPGA Tour, which stated on X: “Following the conclusion of her third round, Perrine Delacour self-reported that she had a lie that was improved on No. 18. Therefore, she was in breach of Rule 8.1, Your Actions That Improve Conditions Affecting Your Stroke. She has since been assessed a two-stroke penalty, resulting in a double bogey on No. 18."

Earlier in the week, Delacour had made a solid start to the tournament, with a one-under 71 on Thursday, followed by a six-under 60 at the halfway stage to leave her tied for 20^th and seven off the lead as she remained in contention for her maiden LPGA Tour title.

However, not helped by the penalty, she began the final round a distant 14 back of overnight leader Haeran Ryu in T58 and facing a battle to place higher than her one other LPGA Tour appearance this season, when she finished T37 at the JM Eagle LA Championship.

Delacour’s mistake came the same day as a rules incident on the PGA Tour, when Davis Riley received an identical penalty after he self-reported using the slope feature of his rangefinder at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson.

The devices are being trialled in just their fourth PGA Tour event at TPC Craig Ranch, but, as the circuit reported in April, they were only permitted for measuring distance, meaning “features such as course mapping, club selection advice and measuring slope, elevation and wind must be disabled prior to using the device during competition."

The incident involving Delacour came less than a month after she won her second LET title at the Investec South African Women’s Open.