In a statement issued Sunday, the association said that while it ultimately ruled Heo’s original ball out of bounds during the third round played May 2, “there were several mistakes” in how the situation was handled.
The association said it based its decision on multiple accounts from an on-site forecaddie, the caddies of Heo’s playing partners, broadcast staff and a referee. It admitted errors including: allowing play to continue with a provisional ball after the OB occurred but recording a par instead of a double bogey; failing to inform the player of the OB ruling while the final round was underway; and delaying formal guidance and public notice.
Heo played on without realizing his tee shot on the seventh hole in the third round had been ruled OB. In the final round on May 3, he shot 7-under and finished tied for the lead with Song Min-hyeok and Jo Min-gyu. But as he prepared to enter a playoff, tournament officials notified him that his score on the previous day’s seventh hole had been changed from par to double bogey. With a two-stroke penalty applied, Heo fell to a tie for third at 9-under 275.
“We apologize for the confusion caused to tournament officials, players, players’ families and fans,” the association said. It pledged to strengthen competition operations and said it will form an incident response committee to revise its operating manual to prevent a recurrence.
The episode has drawn attention overseas. U.S. golf outlets including Golf Digest and Golfweek criticized what they called an “absurd ruling” on the Asian Tour. Golf Digest ran the headline, “Bizarre retroactive penalty in Korea, golfer excluded from playoff over previous day’s issue,” while Golfweek published, “Absurd Asian Tour ruling, golfer eliminated from playoff a day later.”
Foreign reports highlighted the unusual timing: a penalty assessed about 24 hours later that kept a player who had been in the title fight out of the playoff. They also described disputes among players over the ruling and a tense atmosphere during the final round, raising questions about the tournament committee’s application of the rules.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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