Davis Riley

In the second round of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, Davis Riley found himself in the line between footsteps and happiness because of a mistake with the rangefinder.

Riley sat inside the expected cutting line and stabilized under PAR for 5 strokes as the second round ended Saturday morning at TPC Craig Ranch. But all of that changed when he stepped on 152 yards 17 17 17 17 17 .

Riley later said: “At 17, I assumed the rangefinder was in the proper mode and shot, and there were two numbers coming out.” “I used it enough to know that it was the number of the slope. Unfortunately, it was just one of the moments when your heart was a little sunk, like you just threw two shots away.”

The PGA Tour allows remote measurement equipment to be performed between the Masters and the PGA Championship in an attempt to curb slow races. However, the rangefinder can only be used to measure distances. All other features, including slope, must be disabled. The ruling is clear – if slope is enabled, the player will get two free throws.

“If you have a regulator for slope, no matter what knowledge there is, it’s a two-stroke penalty, and the other is a disqualification,” Riley said.

So Riley did what any honest player would do: He reported himself.

“It’s a game – it’s a game for gentlemen,” he said. “It’s just one thing, and when you start from that, it’s the integrity of the game, knowing that men will stay there.

Suddenly, Riley found herself on the wrong side of the tangent, with seven holes remaining, and the pressure was getting stronger and stronger.

“I looked at my caddie and I told him, I was like, man, I was struggling. I was a little angry. My head was spinning because I was just cutting and I was hitting well, I wanted to take action, but then you had 17 punches,” he said.

Punch holes and land. But this is not a knockout round.

Riley answered like an experienced pro, he was his last hole, draining an eagle in his last hole, bringing his muscles back to the tangent.

“I saw seven greens, I saw the rankings, and I saw it under 4, but I knew both sides were done on two fives and I knew it could be 5,” he said. “So when I stepped up the nine serving, I told myself that I needed the eagle. I barely hit a good drive in the rough situation, and then judged a 5-iron perfectly and had to hit those about two to three inches or so and hit the center cup. So I was so excited about it.”