Gregorio de Leo received a one-stroke penalty during the final round of the DP World Tour’s Turkish Airlines Open for taking 111 seconds on his tee shot. The infraction occurred on the 11th hole at National Golf Club, turning his par into a bogey while he was one shot out of the lead. Mikael Lindberg won the tournament, securing his first DP World Tour title.
In the final round at the Turkish Airlines Open, Italian pro Gregorio de Leo, 26, was contending strongly at National Golf Club. Standing on the 11th tee—a 168-yard par-3—he was just one shot behind the leader. However, his group had been under monitoring since the ninth tee due to pace issues, according to a DP World Tour release reported by Ben Parsons of Today’s Golfer. De Leo took 111 seconds to strike his tee shot, exceeding his 50-second allowance by more than 30 seconds while being watched, which triggered the penalty under the tour’s pace of play policy. An official informed him after he hit short of the green, chipped to 2 feet, and made his putt, converting his par to a bogey. De Leo finished one-over on the remaining holes, ending four shots behind the winner. Two other players were noted for slow play earlier in the tournament but avoided penalties: Adrian Otaegui in the first round and Stefano Mazzoli in the second. Slow play remains a key issue in professional golf, highlighted recently by a similar penalty to Jin Hee Im at the LPGA’s JM Eagle L.A. Championship. Mikael Lindberg claimed victory, his first on the DP World Tour. “This is a dream come true,” Lindberg said on the tour’s website. “I’ve been dreaming about this for so many years. My feelings on this last hole, I almost felt dizzy and I almost felt I wanted to throw up.”
