[Photo: Mike Mulholland]

After round one, reigning Bank of Utah Championship winner Michael Brennan was disqualified from the Farmers Insurance Open. In a statement, the PGA Tour said it was for a breach of Model Local Rule G-11 because he used “non-permitted green-reading materials”, without providing further detail, which left much to the imagination.

Imagination runs rampant on social media, where some pointed out that this particular MLR comes with a two-stroke penalty for the first infraction and disqualification for the second. This must have meant that Brennan knowingly doubled-down on his original mistake. Not quite.

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A day later, Brennan took to Instagram to clear the air, posting a lengthy explanation on his page via the notes app. In it, the American explained that he began working with a new course data analyst earlier this week in an effort to improve his course strategy. The night before each round, Brennan’s analyst sends the hole locations on green maps to help him plan out his approach shots.

“While looking at the green maps, I sketched a few arrows,” Brennan wrote. “After completion of my round, I asked [the data analyst] for clarification of a feature on the green maps.”

It was then that the analyst informed Brennan that he wasn’t able to transcribe any details on the greens from his diagram into Brennan’s yardage book. Once Brennan heard this, he knew something was wrong.

“I reached out a PGA Tour rules official, reporting my mistake, and was subsequently disqualified from the golf tournament,” Brennan said.

Based on this explanation, Brennan was unknowingly playing with a non-conforming yardage book for his entire first round on the North course (he shot a two-under 70). Once he realised this and reported himself, it was far too late to receive the general two-stroke penalty for one infraction, so he was DQ’d.

Brennan, who is being showered with praise in his Instagram comment section for coming clean, called it a “painful” lesson to learn, but the 23-year-old can hold his head high knowing he did the right thing. He’ll be back in action at this week’s Waste Management Phoenix Open, where he’ll be making his debut.

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