Luke Donald Nearly Disqualified From Masters Over Smudged Fax

The PGA’s No. 1 golfer Luke Donald was nearly disqualified from the Masters tournament on Thursday when a fax received at the tournaments office led to the incorrect scoring of Donald’s opening round.

Donald had shot an opening day 75 at Augusta National however tournament scoreboards quickly posted a 73 after the improperly read fax counted a fifth hole shore of 3 (a birdie) instead of a 5 (bogey) which occurred after Donald three-putted on the hole.

While the players scorecard reflected the correct score the smudge made officials believe he had placed a 3 where a 5 should have been. Under PGA rules if a scorecard is turned in with incorrect scoring that golfer is immediately eliminated from their current tournament.

Augusta National officials were quick to point out their own mistake which they called a simple “administrative error.”

After hearing the good new Luke’s wife Diane tweeted:

“Just got off the phone with Luke. NOT disqualified. Thanks goodness.”

A favorite to win Augusta National, Donald, 34, struggled on the front nine, posting a 38 while managing to rack up just one birdie on the back nine, placing him 8 strokes behind Masters leader Lee Westwood.

Speaking after his first round Donald told reporters:

“This place … you know if you are a little off, it can eat you up,” while adding, “My preparation has been as good as it’s ever been. I almost wanted to start on the weekend because I was hitting it so nicely. Maybe I peaked a couple of days early. Hopefully, I will find something on the range and go low tomorrow.”

In the meantime the game continues while Tiger Woods managed to score even at the end of first round play.