Golfers taking part in the 2020 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters at the brand new Education City Golf course yesterday.
Former champion Eddie Pepperell’s hopes of collecting a second trophy in Qatar suffered a cruel blow at the Education City Golf Club course as he was disqualified from the European Tour event.
The 29-year-old, who did not take part in last year’s event, besides eyeing The Mother of the Pearl Trophy was aiming to climb back into the world’s top 50 in time to qualify for The Masters.
The winner of Qatar Masters in 2018, Pepperell was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard, erasing what was an opening-round 71, which was seven off the lead.
A mix-up on his scorecard led to his second disqualification from a European Tour event in four months.
Pepperell took to Twitter to explain the bizarre situation that led to his disqualification “Quite disappointing as I actually took the time to change the original error, only to make a costlier one myself,” Pepperell tweeted.
“I asked the referee if this had any bearing on my disqualification but it didn’t. … The rules are the rules and I 100% accept that, but I can’t help feeling that this particular way of disqualification is a fair distance away from common sense, and that’s also disappointing. I enjoyed the course however and hopefully next time I’ll do a better job,” he said.
Pepperell is now struggling to get back in the world’s top 50 in time for The Masters Pepperell, who pulled out of last week’s Oman Open due to coronavirus fears, entered the week ranked 63rd in the world after an erratic start to 2020, missing the cut in South Africa and Abu Dhabi before bouncing back with a tie for 11th at the Dubai Desert Classic.
His hopes of making a second appearance at Augusta National next month are now in the balance, as Pepperell would need to be ranked in the world’s top 50 after the WGC Match Play, also an event he is now battling to qualify for.
Pepperell’s disqualification in Qatar follows his bizarre early exit in Turkey last November, when he ran out of balls after losing “four or five” in the water at the fourth during the third round and was unable to complete the hole.
