Willy Wilcox withdrew from the Wells Fargo Championship on Saturday because he thought he had committed a rules violation that would get him disqualified. As it turns out, Wilcox didn't have to WD because he wasn't going to be DQ'd.
Let's explain.
Wilcox withdrew from the tournament on Saturday morning because he realized he was finishing up his second round that he was using a different putter than he was using when the round began on Friday. Wilcox thought that violation of Rule 4-4a -- not using the same 14 clubs through a round unless one was damaged in the normal course of play -- would result in a disqualification. As it turns out, the penalty for that rules violation is two strokes per hole per club that wasn't originally in the bag...with a maximum of four strokes. So, Wilcox wouldn't have been disqualified. He would have been penalized four shots.
Wilcox later realized this after the Tour explained to him what his options would be. He would have been five shots off the cut line of 1 over par with four holes to play in his second round.
@ToddABailey it was a 4 shotter after i was told it was a DQ. If they would've gotten it right I would've been 5 off cut with 4 to play. ✌🏼
— Willy Wilcox (@willwilcoxgolf) May 6, 2017
So, it would have been unlikely Wilcox would have made up that deficit at Eagle Point Golf Club, but he would have had a chance.
Wilcox said he'll next play in Dallas, which would be the AT&T Byron Nelson from May 18-21.
