The 2025 golf season is underway and, with big tournaments already taking place, players are looking to start their year in the best way possible.
At the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, Akshay Bhatia is making his debut, with the American opting for the DP World Tour tournament. However, during his second round, Bhatia was undone by a bizarre ruling.
Playing at Emirates GC, Bhatia found himself in trouble off the tee on the 13th hole. Faced with no real option, the 22-year-old opted to chip out and on to the eighth fairway.
Now, you may wonder, what's the issue with that? Well, as it turns out, the eighth fairway was deemed to be internal out of bounds for those playing the 13th. Therefore, Bhatia had hit into an out of bounds area, thus receiving a penalty.
After chipping out, a rules official approached Bhatia and explained the situation, with the American then responding: "On the sheet it didn’t say that, though.”
Many were bemused by the situation, including the broadcast team, with the internal OB rule on the 13th hole listed at the bottom of the sheet. After the debacle, Bhatia chipped out on to the 13th and made a double bogey on the par 5. He would, thankfully, make the cut and get into the weekend.
It wasn't just Bhatia who found himself in a rules situation. Across the globe at The American Express, J.T Poston was playing the Pete Dye Stadium Course and, on the par 4 second, noticed that his golf ball had moved as he was addressing it.
Calling over his playing partner, Jake Knapp, they both agreed that Poston hadn't caused the ball to move, with a PGA Tour rules official then called in to discuss the situation.
The 31-year-old explained that his golf ball had rolled back, with it being on an upslope, but the club hadn't touched it. What followed was a lengthy wait as the officials reviewed the footage to see what had transpired.
With a possible penalty stroke looming, Poston was clearly occupied and frustrated, as a four-over-par front nine eliminated all the hard work of his 10-under-par 62 on Thursday, a score that had put him amongst the leaders.
In the end, it was determined that the American would not get a penalty, an announcement that took a near two hours. Following the revelation, Poston fired a level-par back nine for a four-over-par round, with the three-time PGA Tour winner sat in a share of 58th.
