Disqualified Eddie Pepperell says rules are 'fair distance from common sense'

Eddie Pepperell expressed his disappointment at being disqualified from the Qatar Masters and declared the rules as "a fair distance from common sense".

Pepperell explained the confusion on his scorecard following his opening level-par 71, in which he bounced back from a bogey, double-bogey start to his round with six birdies over his next eight holes.

The European Tour announced he had been disqualified for signing for a birdie three at the 17th, where he actually made a par, but the Englishman later revealed he had initially corrected further errors on his card.

The 2018 champion insisted he accepted the decision to exclude him from the remainder of the tournament, but he was clearly unhappy with the circumstances that led to his second disqualification from a European Tour event in four months.

Pepperell hit the headlines during the third round of the Turkish Airlines Open in November when he ran out of balls after losing "four or five" in the water at the fourth, an incident he made a light-hearted reference to when he took to social media in Doha.

He wrote: "My DQ today wasn't due to me running out of balls, or hitting anyone, instead, I signed for a wrong score. My total, 71, was correct and I indeed signed for that. However, my partner had me down for a 5 on one hole where I made a 6, and a 4 on another, where I made 3.

"Therefore this meant I was disqualified. Quite disappointing as I actually took the time to change the original error, only to make a costlier one myself. I asked the referee if this had any bearing on my disqualification but it didn't.

"The rules are the rules and I 100% accept that, but I can't help feeling that this particular way of disqualification is a fair distance away from common sense, and that's also disappointing. I enjoyed the course however and hopefully next time I'll do a better job."

Live European Tour Golf

Pepperell, who pulled out of last week's Oman Open due to coronavirus fears, entered the week ranked 63rd in the world after an erratic start to 2020, missing the cut in South Africa and Abu Dhabi before bouncing back with a tie for 11th at the Dubai Desert Classic.

His hopes of making a second Masters appearance at Augusta National next month are now in the balance, as Pepperell would need to be ranked in the world's top 50 after the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, also an event he is now struggling to qualify for.