Joel Dahmen is calling it quits ahead of Friday's second round of the Shriners Children's Open.
he decided to withdraw Shortly before 10 a.m. Pacific Time, or about an hour before the game started. A long wind delay halted play until then.
The day before, the PGA Tour handed Dahmen a four-stroke penalty. He had an extra 4-iron in his bag, which violated the 14-club maximum rule. Dahmen realized this on the fourth hole and penalized himself.
“We didn't see it there. It was an extra 4-iron, so I had two 4-irons in my bag,” Dahmen said after Thursday's round.
“Why, I don't know. I don't know how I got there. It sucks. It sucks where I am. Yeah, I got to the fourth tee and got some water. I walked up to my bag. , the 4-iron was in the wrong place. Our stuff was never in the right place.”
Damen did not criticize caddy Geno Bomarie, who is also a close friend.
“It was one of those moments where you want to lose it. And it was one of those moments where you want to be angry, angry at yourself, angry at Geno, angry at the world. But when you look around, people… We donate a lot of money to our foundation, and life is not that bad. It's a mistake. Unfortunately, it happened at this moment.
“I want to blame Jeno. That would be easy. It's not his fault either… One of those places where you live and learn. Jeno feels terrible. I feel terrible.”
Unfortunately, a lot is in store for Damen in the coming weeks. To secure a 2025 PGA Tour card and earn full status, you must finish in the top 125 in the FedEx Cup Fall. He arrived in Las Vegas this week sitting 124th in the standings, right on the edge of the bubble. However, his absence has dropped them to 128th place, a nerve-wracking ranking with only four tournaments remaining on the fall schedule.
He tied for 40th at the Black Desert Championships in Utah last week. The week before, he missed the cut at the Sanderson Farms Championship.
It won't help Damen if more cuts are missed in the coming weeks. He has to play well next month to keep his job next year. Carrying around extra clubs doesn't help that purpose either.
“If you take away the penalty, the shot is one over. It's not very good here today,” Dahmen said of Thursday's first round.
“It’s frustrating and disappointing, but when you play golf long enough, weird things happen here.”
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation's Playing Through. Be sure to check it out @_PlayingThrough Cover more golf. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko In the same way.
