Tour Winner MJ Maguire Disqualified Over Lost-Ball Ruling

MJ Maguire, the 2024 Black Mountain Championship winner, was disqualified from the Mercuries Taiwan Masters after a search for his tee shot on the par-4 9th hole ran past the three-minute limit allowed under the Rules of Golf.

What happened on the 9th hole?

Maguire's tee shot came to rest in the rough right of the fairway at Taiwan Golf and Country Club. He, his caddie, a fellow competitor and a ball spotter searched for it before Maguire walked back toward the tee to replay a ball under the stroke-and-distance procedure, believing his original was lost. As he walked back, a spectator located a ball believed to be his, and the ball spotter went to tell him. Maguire said he thought the three-minute search window had not yet expired and elected to continue with the original ball.

A three-minute clock, not intent, is what turned a lost-ball search into a disqualification.

Why was Maguire disqualified?

The Asian Tour said its committee found more than three minutes had passed between the start of the search and the ball's discovery, so the original ball was already lost under Rule 18.2a and out of play. Playing it anyway made it a wrong ball, drawing a two-stroke penalty under Rule 6.3c. Maguire had to correct the error before his next stroke; he teed off on the 10th without doing so, turning the penalty into a disqualification under Rule 6.3c(1). The ruling did not depend on any finding of intent.

Maguire, a former Korn Ferry Tour player, had opened with a 1-under 71 to sit inside the top 20, four shots behind first-round leader Kevin Yuan. He has since fallen to 72nd in the Asian Tour's Order of Merit, with a tie for 15th at the IGPL Bharath Classic his best finish in 10 starts this season.

Chien-Yao Hung claimed his first Asian Tour title in 181 career starts, closing with a 72nd-hole birdie to beat Wade Ormsby by one stroke in front of his home fans in Chinese Taipei. The win moved Hung to sixth in the Order of Merit.