Jarmo Sandelin, joint halfway leader at the Novotel Perrier French Open, was disqualified today after bending his putter out of shape in the final round. The Ryder Cup Swede could not stop himself taking his anger out on the club after a missing a putt on the ninth green. However after bending the putter across his knee he then went and tapped the ball in for a bogey six.
That was a breach of Rule 4(2), which states that during a round "the playing characteristics of a club shall not be purposely changed by adjustment or by any other means". Sandelin realised his error on the next tee and disqualified himself. If he had switched to another club before tapping in he could have continued. Last year's Spanish and German Open champion, who fell out of contention for the title with a third round 78 that included a triple bogey eight on the ninth (not his favourite hole), was three under par at the time.
