Peter Whiteford has been disqualified from the Avantha Masters in New Delhi after a ball-moving incident in the third round.
Television replays showed that the 31-year-old played his shot to the 18th after his ball had rolled a fraction but failed to mention this to the referees and signed off his card for the round.
European Tour chief referee John Paramor said: "Peter felt his ball may have moved and for confirmation asked his caddie, a fellow competitor and a TV cameraman, who said they didn't think it had, and so he continued on to finish the hole."
Paramor went on to say that Whiteford should have incurred a one-shot penalty stroke and if there was any doubt should have reviewed the decision, a move Whiteford admittedly regrets.
"I should have reviewed it," said Whiteford. "You can see it when you look at the TV. John spoke to me before I went out, so to be honest my head wasn't in it from the first tee.
"I'm not cheating obviously. It's one of those things, but disappointing."
Whiteford had led the event after the first two rounds and was in contention when he received the news on the third hole of his final round.
Pascal Lemesre
