PGA Tour veteran Sam Ryder ran afoul of a brand-new rule PGA Tour pros are contending with for the first time this year in a recent Monday Qualifier.
Ahead of the 2026 Valspar Championship, Ryder was seemingly in cruise control when he suddenly withdrew from the qualifier mid-round.
The reason? The 36-year-old pro realized that he had “unintentionally cheated” throughout the round, as he explained to Ryan French on the “Any Given Monday” podcast.
Sam Ryder explains how breaking new PGA Tour rule led to WD
In his lengthy career on the PGA Tour, Ryder has competed in 234 events and made 132 cuts. He’s earned a tidy $10,630,603 on the course for his troubles, and though he’s never won a Tour event, he does have a Korn Ferry Tour victory on his resume.
But due to a poor finish in the FedEx Cup standings last year, Ryder only has partial PGA Tour eligibility for 2026. He played four Tour events early in the season, but when the Valspar Championship rolled around, he didn’t have a spot in the field.
So he decided to try and play his way into the tournament via the Monday Qualifier.
But as he described on the “Any Given Monday“ podcast, Ryder’s round went sideways, not because he was playing poorly, but because he was breaking one of the Tour’s new rules for 2026.
“I was kind of embarrassed to say, but last week I did the Monday [Qualifier] at Brooksville [for the Valspar Championship], and I withdrew because I unintentionally cheated, actually,” Ryder began.
By “unintentionally cheated,” Ryder really means he accidentally broke a new PGA Tour rule. That new rule involves regulations for lift, clean and place, or preferred lies. Previously, when preferred lies rules were in place, a Tour pro was allowed to drop within a club length of their original spot after cleaning their ball. But with the rule change, one of six enacted on the PGA Tour this season, players are only afforded the length of their scorecard, about 11 inches, for the free drop.
At the Valspar Monday Qualifier, Ryder forgot about the change and played by the old drop rules.
“Because it was lift, clean and place, and they changed the rule this year, which I knew, it was totally my fault, but I hadn’t played lift, clean and place yet under the new rule. And I played nine holes and was three under and I was kind of cruising along. I think six under got through. I was playing fine, and I realized I had not been doing the scorecard length,” Ryder shared. “So it didn’t really gain anything for me, but I definitely knew there were a couple situations where… so I withdrew.”
“So I was kind of bummed about that,” he continued. “Ended up working out, I got in.”
As he noted, Ryder was fortunate enough to get into the Valspar Championship field despite blowing his chance at the Monday Qualifier. When Akshay Bhatia withdrew on Wednesday before the first round, Ryder took his place in the field.
