In golf, telling the truth can cost a player a title. Brian Davis learned that the hard way at the 2010 Verizon Heritage when he called a penalty on himself during a playoff, allowing Jim Furyk to win. More than 16 years later, a similar situation unfolded at Willunga in South Australia, where two players received two-shot penalties after a rules breach.

After Friday’s round at the Players Series South Australia, Rachel Lee and playing partner Jake McLeod were hit with a two-shot penalty for a breach in Thursday’s round, the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia announced on X. The pair mistakenly removed a distance marker pole on the 17th hole, an object classed as an immovable obstruction. Lee’s 36-hole score was amended to 5-under par. McLeod, who carded a 65 on Friday, now sits at 4-under.

“The breach was not discovered until discussions today which led to McLeod self-reporting the issue to Tour staff.”

The Tour’s statement says the issue came to light during discussions on Friday, after which McLeod reported it to officials himself. It does not say that officials or cameras caught the mistake. This makes the incident about more than just the rules. It also shows the importance of honesty in golf.

Why did they receive two-shot penalties? In stroke play, the general penalty for breaking a rule is two strokes. Distance markers may also be treated as immovable objects under a course’s local rules. These objects help players understand the course, and moving them could affect other players. However, the Tour has not explained which local rule applied in this case or whether removing the pole affected either player’s shot.

McLeod is an experienced player on the Australian golf circuit. The Queensland golfer won the 2018 NSW Open and finished third at the Australian Open that year. He also topped the Order of Merit, earning a place at the 2019 Open Championship at Royal Portrush. In 2025, he finished second at the Players Series Sydney, one shot behind Nick Voke. With two shots added to his score, the penalty could make a difference to his position on the leaderboard.

Lee is no stranger to big stages either. At age 16, she grabbed a share of the first-round lead at the 2023 Australian Open with a 67 at The Lakes, alongside Jenny Shin. In January 2025, she won the Australian Women’s Amateur by three shots. A penalty is a speed bump on a résumé like that.

This isn’t the first self-reporting moment on the Australasian circuit lately. Earlier this month at the WA PGA Championship, American Tyler McCumber took a two-shot penalty because he wasn’t sure he’d replaced his ball marker, and video review couldn’t settle it. He went on to finish second to Cory Crawford by a single stroke.

The format keeps drawing eyes. The Players Series puts men and women in one field for the same prize money, and the concept took off in 2022 when Hannah Green became the first woman to win a professional 72-hole mixed-gender event. This week’s $200,000 Willunga stop launches the five-leg Players Series schedule for 2026-27.

What remains unclear is how the penalties reshape the weekend. The Tour’s post doesn’t say where either player stands relative to the lead or the cut line. What it does show is a sport where the best advertising is still a player taking a mistake straight to officials. Davis paid for it with a title in 2010. McLeod and Lee will find out over the final two rounds what this one costs them.

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