Whoever knew dropping a golf ball could cost a player $400,000?
That's just what happened to Englishman Ian Poulter on Sunday when he went to replace his ball on his marker and dropped it from a few inches above the ground, falling victim to one of golf's more arcane rules.
The blunder cost Poulter a shot and helped Swede Robert Karlsson win $1.25 million at the Dubai World Championship, the final event of the European Tour season.
Poulter's second prize is impressive nonetheless at $833,000.
Poulter and Karlsson were locked in a playoff on the 18th hole of the Dubai Earth course after four rounds in the desert where both finished at 14 under. The first playoff hole was tied and on the second playoff hole -- again on the 18th -- Poulter left himself with a massive 40-foot putt while Karlsson's chip to the green landed within 4 feet of the pin.
But as the English golfer marked his ball, it slipped from his grasp and fell on the marker, which jumped in the air and turned over.
Poulter let the match referee know immediately.
"Ian Poulter called me over just after he had marked the ball on the 18th and told me he had dropped his ball onto the ball marker which caused the ball marker to move, it just flipped over," chief match referee Andy McFee said. "This incurred a one stroke penalty."
So instead of trying to force another playoff hole, Poulter realized his putt was for a 5. Poulter shrugged, putted and missed, while Karlsson holed his short putt. The gallery of a couple of thousand spectators was unaware of the drama.
