A player (Bio Kim) on the Korean Tour (KPGA) has been suspended for one year.
This is the reason:
The Korean PGA Tour has suspended Bio Kim for 3 years after he flipped off a fan using their cell phone in his swing 😲 pic.twitter.com/hbfmLJeiVB
— GOLF.com (@GOLF_com) October 1, 2019
Allegedly it was a spectator taking a picture with his/her mobile phone in the middle of Kim’s swing that caused Kim to flash his middlefinger at the crowd/spectator.
Initially the penalty was three years but was later reduced to one year.
-> See the Rules School Grade about good player conduct.
This might seem like a harsh penalty – and is it effective in changing the players’ behavior (also on the European Tour and the PGA Tour)?
We probably all remember e.g. Sergio Garcia who slammed a club into (and damaged) several putting greens one year ago, causing him to be disqualified, but without suspension for even one day. And you can read about many more similar incidents (with no suspension) here.
And Bio Kim’s reaction to the suspension? He knelt down and begged with tears in his eyes for forgiveness:
Gotta be one of the wildest stories of the year: The Korean Tour money leader has been suspended for three years … for flipping off the crowd!https://t.co/S6eUpJzXkZ pic.twitter.com/htPXILKr6z
— Ryan Lavner (@RyanLavnerGC) October 1, 2019
Garcia would most likely not do that…
:-).
/Brian
-> By the way I can recommend that you read this interesting article about the incident.