Jeff Overton was disqualified from the Crowne Plaza Colonial Invitational Saturday for using a putting alignment device as he made the turn in the third round.
According to PGA Tour officials, Overton violated rule 14-3 while waiting to tee off at the 10th hole. Overton used a putting alignment aid on the practice putting green during a backup on the 10th tee.
After the DQ, Overton tweeted: "If ur gonna inform someone on a rule of something a person can do, make sure u remind them of the small things they can't do."
In a later tweet, he wrote: “Tough break today. Looks like I gotta go back and rememorize a couple hundred pages of the usga rules book!”
After opening rounds of 67-69, Overton was even-par on the front nine Saturday prior to the disqualification. He had two top-10 finishes in 14 previous starts this season.
Overton was informed of his disqualification on the 11th hole.
“You can go to a designated practice area and chip and putt if you'd like while you are waiting to play,” said Mark Russell, PGA Tour vice president of rules and competition. “But you cannot use an artificial device. That's what he did. The penalty for that is disqualification.”
Russell said Overton asked a starter if he were allowed to use a practice area while he waited for the backup to clear at the 10th tee. Russell said the starter said he was allowed to use the practice area, but . . .
“He was playing a stipulated round,” Russell said. “During a stipulated round, you can't use any type of artificial device or swing aid or alignment aid or anything like that. I mean, it's a shame, but that's the rule, not much we can do about it.”
Russell said the infraction was brought to the rules staff’s attention by another player, but Russell said he did not know if the player was playing in Overton’s threesome.
Here’s 14-3/10.3 in the Rules of Golf Decisions:
Q. During a stipulated round, a player uses a rod to check his alignment or his swing plane. What is the ruling?
A. The player is disqualified under Rule 14-3 as the rod is unusual equipment and such use, during the stipulated round, is not permitted. Carrying the rod is not, of itself, a breach of a Rule.