On his second shot of the second round of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, Davis Riley had a harrowing moment. The beautiful event venue at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas. He had incurred a two-stroke penalty for being in violation of the rules. Now, he was staring down the barrel in a very small margin, with the expected cut line around 5 under par. Riley holed a remarkable eagle on the last hole. This amazing shot left him 5 under, just enough to squeak over the cut line and make it through.
Riley opened with a bang, sitting 5 under after 36 holes. After making a double-bogey on the par-4 15th hole, he fell back to 3 under. With pressure high, he made his way to the last few holes of the day. He knew the urgency of needing to improve the ranking in time to win himself a berth in the tournament. The drama grew as he called over a PGA Tour rules official. He later confessed to accidentally deploying the slope feature on his distance measuring device on an earlier hole.
As a strike against slow play, range finders have been a more recent introduction into PGA Tour events. Golfers are not allowed to use or access slope feature on these devices. Unfortunately for Riley, this accidental infraction led to the two-stroke penalty, which could have disqualified him from the tournament had he incurred another breach of rule 4.3.
On the par-3 17th hole, Riley made a huge tee shot to just 12 feet. He promptly made par, releasing some of the tension back on him for a brief second. Still, the potential fine continued to hang over his head.
As he headed toward the 18th hole, Riley was aware that something extraordinary would be required for him to make the cut and advance into the tournament. He came through when it counted, making an eagle on his final hole to clinch the victory. This enormous par save brought him back to 5 under and kept him very much in contention.
“It’s just one of those times that it just sucks. It was a tough deal, and it’s just a bad break. All I can boil it down to is bad luck that, by the time you put the thing in there and pull it out, it switched from just raw number to slope. It was tough.”
“Unfortunately, it was just kind of one of those moments where your heart sinks a little bit, like you’re just throwing away two shots,” he added about the penalty and its implications on the round.
After completing his second round, Riley was sitting at 5 under. This new standing put him a few ticks above the likely qualifying cut line but still 13 strokes in arrears of 36-hole chief Scottie Scheffler. The product is a testament to his determination to succeed as an artist. It points to the intricacies and difficulties of operating within a rapidly-changing world of professional golf.
After completing his second round, Riley stood at 5 under, placing him right above the projected cut line while remaining 13 shots behind the 36-hole leader, Scottie Scheffler. The outcome showcases not only his resilience as a player but also highlights the complexities and challenges that come with new regulations in professional golf.
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