Extra club in bag costs Joel Dahmen four-stroke penalty, threatens his PGA Tour status
By Jamie Barton, CNN
(CNN) — Joel Dahmen is in danger of losing his PGA Tour card after he was penalized four shots at the Shriners Children’s Open on Thursday for having too many clubs in his bag.
It was a mistake that could prove decisive for a player who is on the bubble. Dahmen currently sits No. 124 in the FedEx Cup Fall standings, with the top 125 at the end of the fall circuit able to retain their tour status for 2025.
The 36-year-old American made pars on the first two holes, but realized on the fourth tee that he had an extra 4-iron with him, meaning he was carrying more than the permitted 14 clubs.
“I don’t know how it got there. It sucks. It sucks at the spot I’m in as well,” he told the media afterwards.
Dahmen self-reported and the resulting penalty – two strokes for every hole of the violation, with no more than a four-stroke penalty in one round – saw his first two pars downgraded to double bogeys, putting him in last place. He finished on five-over 76.
“I would like to blame (caddie) Geno (Bonnalie), that would be the easiest thing to do, but it’s not actually his fault either. I played Tuesday and Wednesday out here, and we didn’t see it in there,” he said.
“It was one of those moments where you want to lose it, and you want to get mad. You want to be mad at yourself, you want to get mad at Geno, you want to get mad at the world,” he continued.
“I have a Clif Bar that’s probably two months old in there. There’s probably a banana that’s rotting in that golf bag. There’s all sorts of crap in there.”
Dahmen, 15 strokes adrift of Canadian clubhouse leader Taylor Pendrith, now faces an uphill battle to climb into the top 65 players and ties that will progress to the weekend.
Eight players will finish their opening rounds on Friday after darkness suspended play on Thursday, with the second round beginning at 9:55 a.m. ET.
There are four fall events remaining after the Shriners Children’s Open, and Dahmen will need to turn his fortunes around if he is to secure his card for 2025.
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