The ball was found. But the rules of golf said it was lost.
And Matthew Jordan could not recover. In a wild sequence during Sunday’s final round of the Qatar Masters on the European Tour, Jordan took a two-stroke lead into the 10th hole at Doha Golf Club, hit his second shot left, couldn’t find it, then was stung after it was — but only after the three minutes allocated to search. From there, Jordan bogeyed the 10th and four of the next five holes, and he tied for fifth.
According to Golf Monthly, Jordan’s ball took several skips among rocks after his second stroke, and he did not hit a provisional. For three minutes, Jordan, playing partner Adrian Meronk, their caddies, fans and officials looked, they came up empty, and Jordan was forced to replay the shot.
Around this point, Jordan’s ball was found. And it wasn’t. In play was Rule 18.2, which states: “A ball is lost if not found in three minutes after the player or his or her caddie begins to search for it.” Jordan finished with a bogey six and dropped into a share for the lead.
He couldn’t recover. On the par-4 11th, Jordan three-putted from 37 feet and bogeyed. On the par-4 12th, he couldn’t get up and down and bogeyed. On the par-3 13th, he hit his tee shot into the water. After a par on the par-4 14th, Jordan bogeyed the par-4 15th after missing the green to the right on his second shot.
He did birdie the 16th and signed for a four-over-76 and a four-under total, which was three shots behind winner Ewen Ferguson. It’s Ferguson’s first win on the formerly named European Tour.
