{"id":435571,"date":"2025-06-28T22:12:53","date_gmt":"2025-06-28T22:12:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/?p=435571"},"modified":"2025-06-28T22:12:53","modified_gmt":"2025-06-28T22:12:53","slug":"cole-hammer-disqualified-over-hand-signals-in-shocking-korn-ferry-drama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/cole-hammer-disqualified-over-hand-signals-in-shocking-korn-ferry-drama\/","title":{"rendered":"Cole Hammer Disqualified Over Hand Signals in Shocking Korn Ferry Drama"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cole Hammer\u2019s run at the Korn Ferry Tour’s Memorial Health Championship ended in shocking fashion on Friday. The young American golfer was disqualified<\/a> after admitting to giving advice to another player during the first round of the tournament in Springfield, Illinois. The drama unfolded after what seemed like an ordinary hand signal turned into a costly rules violation.<\/p>\n

Also Read: Pivotal Phoenix Open Rule Changes to Prevent Disaster<\/a><\/p>\n

Hammer Felt Compelled To Talk To Rules Officials<\/h2>\n

The incident happened on the par-3 17th hole during the first round. Hammer had just played his shot using a 4-iron. As he walked off, Nelson Ledesma\u2019s caddie asked which club he had used. Hammer didn\u2019t think much of it at the time. He casually flashed four fingers to show it was a 4-iron. But that simple hand gesture broke one of golf\u2019s strict rules. Players are not allowed to give or ask for advice during a round. That includes sharing information about club selection.<\/p>\n

\u201cOut of instinct, I flashed \u20184\u2019 as well,\u201d Hammer explained on Friday afternoon. \u201cIt was a heat-of-the-moment thing, and I didn\u2019t think a whole lot about it until after the round.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hammer didn\u2019t report the incident right away. But later that evening, his conscience began to bother him. He couldn\u2019t shake the feeling that he had broken the rules, even though many players consider such exchanges common on the course. The next morning, Hammer did what he believed was the right thing: he reported the incident to tournament officials before starting his second round.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I know the rules really well, and I\u2019ve always tried to uphold them to the best of my ability,\u201d the 25-year-old added.<\/a> \u201cIt just didn\u2019t sit right with me last night, and when I woke up this morning, I felt compelled to go talk to the rules official and tell him what had happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

After reviewing the situation, officials ruled that Hammer and Ledesma had both violated Rule 10.2a of the game, which covers giving and receiving advice. The punishment is usually the general penalty of two strokes, but because both players had already signed their first-round scorecards, the penalties could not be applied retroactively. The only option under the rules was disqualification.<\/p>\n

What Does Rule 10.2a Say?<\/h2>\n

The Rule 10.2a says:<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring a round, you must not:<\/p>\n

1. Give advice to anyone in the competition who is playing on the course;<\/p>\n

2. Ask anyone for advice, other than your caddie;<\/p>\n

3. Touch another player\u2019s equipment to learn information that would be advice if given by or asked of the other player.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also Read: Rich Beem blasts USGA over contentious US\u202fOpen ruling<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"
Cole Hammer lines up a putt on the eighth green during the weather delayed conclusion of the first round of the Valero Texas Open golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-USA TODAY Sports<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hammer was one-under-par for the tournament at the time of his disqualification. Ledesma, who also faced the same fate, stood at two-over-par. Both players had to pack their bags and leave the tournament early.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe decision made is the correct one, according to the rules. I can\u2019t do much with it except accept it.\u201d Ledesma said<\/a> after his disqualification.<\/p>\n

Main Photo Credit: \u00a9 Michael Madrid-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cole Hammer\u2019s run at the Korn Ferry Tour’s Memorial Health Championship ended in shocking fashion on Friday. The young American golfer was disqualified after admitting to giving advice to another player during the first round of the tournament in Springfield, Illinois. The drama unfolded after what seemed like an ordinary hand signal turned into a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5425,"featured_media":435575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15,246],"tags":[8130,8132,8131],"class_list":["post-435571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-golf","category-golf-news","tag-cole-hammer","tag-memorial-health-championship","tag-nelson-ladesma"],"modified_by":"Ajayi Segun","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5425"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435571"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435571\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":435578,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435571\/revisions\/435578"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/435575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}