Pro Golfer DQ’d From Korn Ferry Tour Finals After Missing His Tee Time

Curtis Luck wasn’t dealing with airline delays when he missed his tee time on Thursday at the first Korn Ferry Tour Finals event. Nor was he stuck in traffic. The Aussie was on site at the Albertsons Boise Open, and he still managed to miss his tee time completely.

As a result, Luck was disqualified from the event.

“Curtis Luck missed his first-round tee time (7:45 a.m.) and did not arrive within the five additional minutes allotted under Rule. 5.3a, and was subsequently disqualified. Luck did not meet any of the three exceptions within Rule 5.3a,” the Korn Ferry Tour wrote in a statement.

Although fans might have expected otherwise, it turned out that Luck’s tardiness was simply an honest mistake.

The former U.S. Amateur champion spoke to Golf Digest on Thursday after his disqualification, and explained that he merely misread his tee time.

“I just flat-out misread my tee time. I thought I was off at 7:55 a.m. and I was just on the range finishing my warm-up. I actually started walking to the tee at 7:46 a.m.”

Luck also noted that he was using a replacement caddie this week.

According to Ryan French, golf Twitter’s resident mini-tour expert, Luck walked up to the first tee box about “10 seconds after the 5-minute mark.” That 10-second margin cost him his spot in the field. James Nicholas, who was on standby as first alternate, replaced Luck in the high-stakes tournament.

Update: he thought his tee time was 7:55, it was 7:45. He arrived to the tee about 10 seconds after the 5-minute mark, therefore resulting in a DQ (had he been there within the 5-mins its a 2-stroke penalty)
— Monday Q Info (@acaseofthegolf1) August 24, 2023

Luck’s mistake would have been costly at any professional golf event, but the blunder will be especially hard to recover from in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals.

The KFT Finals consists of four tournaments, in which players can solidify their Tour status for the following year based on a season-long points list, and even advance to the PGA Tour.

After the penultimate event, the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship, the top 75 players on the points list are guaranteed KFT status for 2024.

Following the final event of the series—the Korn Ferry Tour Championship—the top 30 players are awarded PGA Tour membership.

Before his disqualification, Luck stood at No. 59 in those standings. Now, he’ll have one less opportunity to improve his position.

But interestingly, Luck didn’t seem overly concerned with his self-inflicted setback. As a past winner at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship, the Australian is confident he can regain ground.

“I’ll just show up in Nashville and then Columbus and keep throwing everything I’ve got at the playoffs,” he said. “Columbus is my favorite on the Korn Ferry Tour. So I just have to keep pressing on."