PARAMUS, N.J. — Cameron Tringale began the FedEx Cup playoffs with a 66 and a clear conscience.
Tringale disqualified himself from the PGA Championship several days after the final major of the year. He was concerned he might have whiffed on a tap-in bogey putt on the 11th hole of the final round.
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“The more I thought about it, I didn’t want the way I play this game or my integrity questioned,” Tringale said Thursday.
He called the PGA of America and was disqualified.
Tringale had tied for 33rd, so he lost out on the $53,000 in prize money. Perhaps more important, he lost 37 points in the Fed-Ex Cup, which cost him eight spots in the standings.
Those points could loom large if Tringale, now 61st, can move into the top 30 after three playoff events and qualify for the Tour Championship, making him exempt for the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open.
Tringale said in a statement last week that when he approached the hole to tap in his 3-inch putt for bogey, the putter swung over the ball.
“The issue had come up in the scoring trailer on Sunday. I didn’t feel like it was a stroke and my competitor agreed,” Tringale said. “We agreed on the score and that was fine. Although as the week went on, I think like Tuesday, I started to review my week and that came up in my head. Is there a doubt if my playing competitor was doubting what that looked like.”
He said Matt Jones raised the question before the cards were signed, and Jones was fine with Tringale saying he didn’t think it was a stroke.
Tringale said he spoke with rules officials and eventually decided he should withdraw. The decision was announced Saturday and Tringale said he felt “definitely better.”
“The more I played it out in my head … if I play well, if I make it to East Lake, would I have been there if I did take a 5? So I just felt it was better to get it out and take myself out than to just be questioning and wondering for the rest of my life,” he said.
He said he spoke to rules officials at the USGA and PGA of America. Both said only Tringale would know if he took a stroke and the decision had to be his alone.
“I was put in that position of, ‘OK, I’m either out or I’m living with the question,’ ” he said. “So I said, ‘Well, I’m taking a 5 and I’m out.’ ”
BARCLAYS: Bo Van Pelt opened with three birdies nd chipped in for an eagle late in his round for a 6-under 65 that gave him a one-shot lead in the opening of the FedEx Cup playoffs at Paramus, New Jersey.
LPGA: So Yeon Ryu set a course record with a 63, Na Yeon Choi was one shot behind and Inbee Park three off the lead after the first round of the $2.25 million Canadian Pacific Women’s Open at London, Ontario.
EUROPEAN: Jamie Donaldson shot a 6-under 66 to take the first-round lead in the Czech Masters at Vysoky Ujezd, Czech Republic, and boost his chances of securing a Ryder Cup spot.
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