Joel Dahmen, who gained a brief bit of fame when he was paired with Tiger Woods on Saturday during the Quicken Loans National, was in the spotlight for a different reason following the final round of the tournament because he publicly called out another player for cheating.
Asked via Twitter why he and playing partner Sung-hoon Kang had allowed another group to play through, Dahmen responded: "Kang cheated. He took a bad drop from a hazard. I argued until I was blue. I lost.''
Playing the par-5 10th hole, Kang's second shot found the hazard that borders the hole.
Where the ball crossed the hazard determines where a player can drop, and the golfers and their caddies apparently disagreed on the location. The disagreement took so long that the group behind -- Ben Crane and Ryan Palmer -- played through. A PGA Tour rules official was called in and ultimately sided with Kang and allowed him to drop nearer to the hole.
"It was a typical dispute about where or if it crossed the hazard,'' Dahmen said on Twitter. "It clearly did not cross the hazard. We went back and forth for 25 minutes and he ended up dropping closer to the green.''
Asked why he signed Kang's card, Dahmen said: "At that point there is nothing I can do. If I don't sign the card, the rules official will. I would just be delaying the inevitable.''
Where a ball crosses a lateral hazard is always tricky, especially without video. Typically rules officials side with the player but a competitor arguing so strongly against such a ruling is rare. When a new set of rules goes into effect on Jan. 1, such disputes will fall even more in favor of the player, even if video evidence later suggests he is wrong. The idea is to give benefit of the doubt to the player.
Kang saved par on the hole and went on to shoot 64, finishing tied for third and earning a spot in The Open at Carnoustie via an exemption category that gave spots in the tournament to the top four finishers not already exempt. Francesco Molinari won the tournament by eight strokes.
The PGA Tour later released a statement on his behalf that said: "He is standing by the ruling that was made by PGA Tour rules officials on Sunday and will have no further comment, other than he is looking forward to focusing on finishing out the season strong, and he is excited about the opportunity to play in the Open Championship again in a few weeks.''
It also released its own statement in which the tour said the official interviewed all parties and there was "no clear evidence to prove otherwise,'' with respect to where Kang should drop. Kang, 31, has never won on the PGA Tour but has one victory on the Asian Tour as well as several in his native South Korea.