PGA Tour fixes scorecard disqualification rule that burned Jordan Spieth at the Genesis Invitational

Jordan Spieth will be the last golfer to fall victim to an old scorecard rule on the PGA Tour.

The Tour officially announced Tuesday ahead of the Travelers Championship that players will now have a 15-minute window to correct an error on their scorecard after a round, even if they have left the defined scoring area. Previously, such a mistake led to an automatic disqualification.

The change will start immediately on the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and all other major golf leagues.

While he isn’t the only one who has made the mistake, Spieth was the most recent player disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard. He was disqualified after the second round of the Genesis Invitational in February in Los Angeles after his card said he made a par on a hole he actually bogeyed. While Spieth’s bogey was noted in real time on the leaderboard and the broadcast — he clearly wasn’t trying to cheat — Spieth left the scoring area at Riviera Country Club with the mistake still on the card he turned in to officials. It was revealed later that he allegedly left the scoring area so quickly because he had to run to the bathroom.

He was automatically disqualified on the spot.

Spieth has won 13 times on the PGA Tour in his career, most recently at the RBC Heritage in 2022. He has three top-10 finishes on Tour this season, and he finished T41 at the U.S. Open last week at Pinehurst. Spieth is in the field this week at TPC River Highlands, where he’ll play in the last signature event on Tour before the British Open next month at Royal Troon.

If he makes the same mistake this week that he did back in February, Spieth will now have time to avoid a disqualification.