Jordan Smith had high hopes of winning a third DP World Tour title when Day 3 of the Omega European Masters at Crans-sur-Cières Golf Club in Switzerland got underway.
That was because he started the day just five shots behind overnight leader Matt Wallace. In blustery conditions, Smith recovered from a bogey on the first hole to finish the round at one under par and stay atop the leaderboard.
However, Smith's second bogey of the day on the 10th hole curtailed his progress slightly, and then disaster struck on the 12th hole, where he was penalized two strokes.
The DP World Tour has not yet announced the specific reason for the Englishman's penalty, but it appears that when he dropped his ball in the penalty area, it came to rest outside the relief area. Under Rule 14.2 of the Rules of Golf, this would have given Smith a second chance to drop his ball “in the proper manner.” Smith's ball appeared to come to rest in the penalty area again, where he chose to hit his shot.
This was against the rules, as the correct approach was to play from the spot where the ball first hit the ground on the second drop. As a result, Smith was penalized two strokes, meaning his already disappointing double bogey on the par 4 turned into a damaging quadruple bogey on the par 8.
Smith wasn't the only one who had major trouble on the 12th hole during Moving Day. Due to the bad weather, with gusts reaching around 35 miles per hour in many places, there were big hits throughout the day, including two players, Nicola von der Linshausen and Eddie Pepperell, who putted into the lake next to the hole, thus hurting their own chances.
Eddie Pepperell enters the water on the 12th hole in windy conditions
(Image source: Getty Images)
The weather made for an intriguing, if completely unpredictable, DP World Tour event. Only three players were under par that day – Jonas Blixt, Sebastian Soderberg and Edoardo Molinari – and the result was Wallace at 11 under, four shots ahead of Spaniard Alfredo Garcia-Heredia. Smith went into the final round tied for 17th, nine shots behind his compatriot, after struggling on the 12th hole.
