After Friday’s round at the ShopRite LPGA Classic, Nasa Hataoka was disqualified from the event over a rule dispute. Hataoka shot 6 under 65 to tie for third after the first round. When the Japanese golfer reached the last hole after the second shot, her ball was stuck in the fescue near the greens. Hataoka reportedly took more than 3 minutes to find her ball, took a penalty for an unplayable lie, and continued her round.

Later, the LPGA Tour stated that Hataoka should have deemed the ball lost, taken a stroke and distance penalty, and resumed from where she took her second shot. But not playing by the rules meant Hataoka signed the wrong scorecard and didn’t inform the officials, which made it a ground for disqualification. Seeing the controversial disqualification, veteran pro, Jenny Shin has opined against it.

Jenny Shin calls out the LPGA Tour over Nasa Hataoka’s disqualification

Jenny Shin is the 36-hole leader of the ShopRite LPGA Classic, as she carded two rounds of 63-69 to be 10 under and en route for her second LPGA Tour victory in 8 years. Although the silverware is the main goal of the Korean pro, Shin could not ignore the disqualification of Nasa Hataoka, as she did not find it appropriate.

Shin posted a long tweet on X saying that many in the golf world might find her opinion “controversial.” The 1-time LPGA Tour winner frustratingly said, “Nasa Hataoka getting DQed because someone thought it was 25seconds over 3mins after the scorecard was signed should not be happening.”

The 31-year-old explained that the rule official should have told her or someone from the group should have told the rule official after it happened, but no one informed them. Shin complained that the disqualification from the event may cost Hataoka the opportunity to represent Japan in the Olympics, which is not ideal.

After Shin posted her thoughts, many fans agreed with her that the rule was not fair to Nasa Hataoka and called the LPGA Tour for not notifying Hataoka before she exited the Seaview Bay Course, New Jersey.

Golf fans agree with Jenny Shin’s thoughts on disqualification

This fan, agreeing with Jenny Shin, found that the mishap was done more from the LPGA Tour’s side than Nasa Hataoka. The fan criticized the women’s circuit, saying, “Exactly. This should have been handled with better communication between tournament officials & the player, including notifying the player of her situation before her score was considered official. #DoBetter @LPGA.” 

In 2019, the USGA changed the rule of finding the lost golf ball from 5 minutes to 3 minutes for prompt research and reasoned that usually balls can be found under the stipulated time. This fan recalled the rule change and explained that instead of helping the golfers, it penalized them. They said, “She’s 100% correct! The rule change that happened several years ago was meant to protect players from this exact type of over-the-top penalty.” 

This user agreed with the part about why no rule official informed Hataoka of her mistake. They also called the fans who agreed with the disqualification and said, “Agreed. This is what rules officials are for. If they didn’t penalize her, move on. The tv police need to go away.”

Another was enraged and suggested that instead of disqualification, a different penalty should have been given. They commented, “DQ is a disgrace. Shouldn’t matter whether the card is signed or not. Add penalty or another punishment. If every shot from every player isn’t on camera then it’s not fair for all players. And that is what needs addressing. If rules official at the time has no issues then ply on.” 

The shorter finding for the ball was done so that the issue of slow play could be countered. Deeming it unreasonable, the user said, “Not only costing her dearly but BLATANTLY absurd! I’m all for faster play but this seems completely arbitrary!” 

Do you think Nasa Hataoka’s disqualification was fair? Share your opinions in the comments.