Kim Ju-hyung received a two-stroke penalty for playing the wrong ball on the 9th hole. [Getty Images]
Kim Ju-hyung received a two-stroke penalty for playing the wrong ball on the 9th hole. [Getty Images]

Kim Ju-hyung received a two-stroke penalty during the second round of the PGA Tour's Vidanta World Mexico Open after playing a fellow competitor's ball from a bunker.

Kim was penalized for a rules violation on the 9th hole (par 4), the final hole of the day, during Saturday's second round at Vidanta Vallarta (par 71, 7,337 yards) in Bahia de Banderas, Nayarit, Mexico. Despite the penalty, Kim finished the round 3 under to sit at 7 under par and a total of 135 strokes, tied for 25th place.

Starting from the 10th hole, Kim played 17 holes without a bogey, picking up five birdies. Trouble arrived on the closing 9th hole, when Kim's second shot found a greenside bunker. By coincidence, the ball of playing partner and defending champion Bryan Campbell of the United States had come to rest in the same bunker, and the two players inadvertently struck each other's ball.

Both were assessed two-stroke penalties for wrong-ball play under Rule 6.3c, which states that in stroke play a player who strikes a wrong ball — one belonging to another competitor — incurs a two-stroke penalty. What would have been a par for each player became a double bogey.

Andrew Novak of the United States fired a 10-under-par 61 to move to 14 under, 128 strokes total, and take sole possession of the lead. Novak holds a three-stroke advantage over the group tied for second, which includes Matthieu Pavon of France and Ben Griffin of the United States.


sports@heraldcorp.com