Pepperell's Masters chances take a dent

A careless error on his card has dumped England's Eddie Pepperell out of the Qatar Masters at the Education City Golf Club in Doha. The 2018 champion had hoped to find that form of two years ago and force his way into the world's top 50 in time to qualify for The Masters.

Pepperell had got off to a bad start but rallied to be round in a level par 71. However, a mix-up on his scorecard led to his disqualification from the event. Pepperell had birdied the 16th hole and then parred the 17th but signed for scores the other way around and so was disqualified as he had signed for a lower score on the 17th

The man from Oxford, England was partnered with Frenchmen Mike Lorenzo-Vera and Benjeman Herbert but we are not sure which one completed Pepperell's card. It is a rather fundamental mistake for a pro to make as it should be standard to call out all the scores to check them against a player's record.

Pepperell, who didn't play in last week's Oman Open over coronavirus fears, is currently ranked 63rd in the world and needs to get into the top 50 to make his second appearance at Augusta National in April.

The challenge is even harder as the cut-off comes after the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play and there is a question whether Pepperell will qualify for this event.

This is the second time in the last four months that Pepperell has been disqualified from a European Tour event. He was excluded from Turkish Open last November when he bizarrely ran out of balls after firing a number into the water at the 4th hole of his third round.