Why Jason Kokrak was disqualified from Travelers for ‘failing to record a score’

Jason Kokrak had an unusual ending to his Travelers Championship on Friday.

Kokrak was disqualified for, as Tour officials state, failing to record a score on his final hole and subsequently failing to return a scorecard. But that doesn’t tell the entire story.

Sitting at even par, two shots below the projected cut line, late in Friday’s second round at TPC River Highlands, Kokrak was already likely headed home early unless he holed a 43-yard approach at the short, dogleg ninth hole. Instead, his second shot flew, according to ShotLink, “87 yards into the unknown.”

Kokrak did not finish the hole, hence the disqualification, a decision that prompted many on social media to speculate about why Kokrak had opted not to drop and complete his round.

Full-field scores from Travelers Championship

Well, thanks to Kokrak’s playing competitor, Will McGirt, we now know. McGirt told Action Network’s Jason Sobel that Kokrak didn’t realize his ball had gone out of bounds and it took considerable time to find out where to drop from. By the time Kokrak could figure out where to take his drop, the group behind was waiting and Kokrak, already missing the cut, decided to pick up his ball and not hold up play any longer.

“But it wasn’t some walk-off from PGA Tour life,” McGirt said, in Sobel’s words.