Finau’s score improves after penalty lifted

Miscommunication with an official led to ‘committee error.’

MEXICO CITY — One ruling in the WGC-Mexico Championship that didn’t get much attention involved Tony Finau, and the outcome was unlike anything he has ever experienced. He signed for a 74 in the first round. The next day, it became a 73.

“That’s never happened to me before,” Finau said after his final round to tie for 25th.

It started with his first shot of the tournament on the par-4 first hole, high and left into the trees. Finau was lucky to find the ball some 10 feet up in a tree, which was in the middle of a fenced area that had been established as a temporary immovable obstruction.

He called for an official, and when Gary Young of the PGA Tour showed up, Finau said he was going to declare it unplayable. Young said he first had to identify it to make sure it was his, and Finau — helped by being 6-foot-4 with alignment shafts in his bag — was able to swat it down. Young proceeded to give him a free drop outside the fenced area, without making clear to Finau that it was a TIO and he was allowed relief no matter the lie of his ball.

“I told the scorer he was hitting his second shot,” Young said.

Finau still had in his head that he was taking a penalty drop, and after making par, signed for a 5.

“He didn’t understand all day why the score on the sign was different than he thought,” Young said.

The next morning, Finau bumped into Young and thanked him for his help. Young asked him how the hole turned out, and Finau told him he made 5 with the penalty. That’s when Young realized there was a problem.

“I took it to the committee and they were torn,” Young said. “I felt strongly there should be no penalty based on my miscommunication. We called the USGA, gave them all the details and they agreed it was a committee error.”

The score on Finau’s first hole of the tournament was changed after 36 holes.

“I told him it was my fault for not being more clear,” Young said. “Ultimately, it had the right ending.”

Right score, wrong course: Paul Casey was 3 under for his opening three holes of the third round at the Mexico Championship when he was trying to work out the yardage on the par-3 13th. His caddie, John McLaren, told him he needed to land the shot 17 paces from the front of the green, which Casey found odd because the pin was supposed to be 13 paces on.

That’s when they discovered one small problem.

“He suddenly looked in his book and he realized he had written down in his book every single pin that was wrong, and he couldn’t figure out why,” Casey said.

The hole locations McLaren took from the internet were for the Puerto Rico Open.

And for the only time in his life, he didn’t double-check them in the morning sitting in the breakfast room,” he said.

McLaren heard plenty from his peers, courtesy of a major boost from Lee Westwood, who tweeted his blunder.

No one was laughing as hard as Casey. Besides, it wasn’t a big deal. Casey played to a position on the green regardless of the flag on No. 10 (par), and he could see where the flag was on the par-5 11th (eagle). Ditto for the par-4 12th, where several players hit driver near the green and it was easy to see from there.

For the final round, McLaren had the pin sheet from Mexico, not Puerto Rico.

“And we start off with three straight birdies,” Casey said. “It was brilliant.”

Divots: Lee Elder is the first black player to receive the Bob Jones Award, the highest honor presented by the USGA. Elder, who in 1975 became the first African-American to play in the Masters, will be honored the week of the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach . ... The R&A says Women’s British Open champion Georgia Hall will become one of its ambassadors to play a key role in promoting girls and women in golf. Hall joins Padraig Harrington and Suzann Pettersen as R&A ambassadors. The 22-year-old Hall is the first ambassador to win all its championships at every age level — Girls’ Amateur, Women’s Amateur and Women’s Open . ... Minjee Lee’s runner-up finish in Thailand moved her to a careerbest No. 3 in the world. The 22-year-old Aussie has 25 top 10s in her last 56 tournaments.

GETTY IMAGES Tony Finau hits his second shot on the first hole last week in Mexico City. After his tee shot went into a tree, Finau consulted an official about dropping his ball, but misunderstood it was a free drop since the tree was in a temporarily fenced-off area.