Aug 2, 2013 3 min read

CANONSBURG – If it were not in real time, then what happened to Blayne Barber Friday could be a plot for a Hollywood drama.

Barber was sitting in the media room at Southpointe Golf Club following a strong second round in the Web.com Mylan Classic, discussing the penalty he assessed himself last October that cost him a chance to play on the PGA Tour.

It was an extreme act of honesty.

Incredibly, as Barber discussed that situation, it was learned that he had signed a wrong scorecard for the second round yesterday. Because it was not caught until after he left the scoring area, Barber was disqualified from the tournament.

Instead of a 10-under par score for the two rounds, Barber was actually at 9-under par. He was listed in second place after finishing the round, but should have been in a tie for second with Ben Martin. The problem was that he signed for a score of three on the par-4 16th when he actually had a 4.

First-place prize money in the Mylan Classic is $121,500.

“I looked it over and didn’t see it,” said Barber. “Somehow, I missed that one on 16. When I saw it online, I thought there was something wrong. Not only did I miss it, but the walking scorer missed it. I know it sounds careless, but to be honest, I don’t know what emotions I am going through right now.”

Each golfer in a group keeps the score of one of the others as well as their own score. Following a round, a golfer submits his score to officials at the scoring area by tearing off the perforated portion of the card. He can check with the other players in his group as well as the walking scorer, but once he signs the card and submits it, it becomes official.

“Once he leaves the scoring area, that’s it,” said Web.com Tour official Joe Chemycz. “There is nothing he can do.”

Last October, Barber had qualified for the second stage of Q School. He needed to reach the finals in order to have status on the PGA Tour or Web.com Tour. During that round, he assessed himself a one-stroke penalty when he thought his club moved a leaf in a bunker. Barber didn’t realize the proper penalty was a two-stroke penalty.

He had not checked with a tournament official on the proper penalty, and that kept nagging at his conscience.

“I continued to pray about it and think about it,” he said. “I knew I needed to do the right thing. I knew it was going to be disqualification.”

Barber’s DQ allowed six golfers to advance to the second stage and drew wide praise in the golf community.

“I wasn’t entirely sure I did it,” he said, “but I didn’t want to allow any doubt.”