Tour participants removed from Nexo Championship due to independent occurrences
In a shocking turn of events at the 2025 Nexo Championship, held at the prestigious Trump International Golf Links in Scotland, two betting favourites, Sam Bairstow and Calum Hill, found themselves disqualified from the tournament.
The first incident involved Bairstow, who was disqualified due to a scorecard error on the par-4 14th hole. After missing the fairway with his tee shot, Bairstow played a provisional ball and, believing he had made a bogey five, failed to include his two penalty strokes on the card. This oversight resulted in a recorded score of five, instead of the actual seven strokes he took, leading to his immediate disqualification under DP World Tour rules as neither he nor his playing partners noticed the mistake at the time.
Meanwhile, Calum Hill was disqualified after failing to hole out on the eighth hole during his second round. This breach of the rules ended his tournament prematurely.
As a result of these disqualifications, neither Bairstow nor Hill collected any points for the season-long Race to Dubai, affecting their standings on the tour.
Before the mix-up, Bairstow was three-under through 13 holes, but his triple-bogey seven at 14 led to him double-bogeying 15 and dropping another stroke at the par-5 closing hole. This unfortunate incident comes after a tough stretch for Bairstow, who has missed three cuts and withdrawn from another tournament in recent appearances. His best finish in this period was a T65th at the Genesis Scottish Open.
Calum Hill started the tournament at four-over but had a difficult second round, making bogeys at the first and third holes. Despite a birdie at the par-5 first hole during his second round, he followed it with a bogey at the second hole. Hill made a second birdie of the week on the par-4 fifth hole during his second round, but immediately followed it with a dropped shot at the par-3 next. Another bogey was made at the par-5 fourth hole, and his tournament ended after missing his par putt from inside nine feet at the eighth hole.
Hill's disqualification meant he did not collect any points for his efforts in Scotland. Richard Sterne, who led the tournament after round one with a score of five-under, is now the clear favourite to take the title.
[1] Source: Official DP World Tour Statement [3] Source: Golf Channel Report [5] Source: BBC Sport Article
- Despite their initial promise in the 2025 Nexo Championship, both golfers Sam Bairstow and Calum Hill, who were betting favorites, were disqualified, preventing them from earning points in the season-long Race to Dubai.
- The incident involving Sam Bairstow occurred on the par-4 14th hole, where a scorecard error led to his disqualification from the sports-analysis perspective, as he failed to include two penalty strokes on his card, resulting in an incorrect score.
