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Qualifier DQ’d after missing restart time at U.S. Senior Open

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Marcus Meloan made a five-figure mistake Saturday at the U.S. Senior Open.

The 56-year-old qualifier from San Diego was disqualified after he missed his restart time following a weather delay at Omaha Country Club.

USGA rules official Ben Schade told Golf Channel that Meloan, who was just seven shots off lead at the time, was five minutes late returning from a three-hour suspension of play, a violation of Rule 5.7c, which states: You must resume play at the time set by the Committee and from where you stopped play on a hole or, if between two holes, at your next teeing area, even if play is resumed on a later day.

“Following that restart, we did have a player that was late to resume,” Schade said. “So, resumption times, they work very much the same as a starting time that we would have at the beginning of our round where we need to be ready to play within 5 minutes of that time, no later than 5 minutes of that time, to avoid disqualification. If we’re within that 5-minute time, we would get a two-stroke penalty, and he can play on. So, in Marcus’ case, he was not ready to play within that 5-minute window of his resumption time, so he was disqualified from the competition.”

Meloan was 2 over through 14 holes of his third round, 5 over overall and near the top 20, when he was disqualified. A day earlier, he was one of just two players in the morning wave to shoot under par; he fired a 1-under 69.

He had qualified for the championship last month at San Diego Country Club, and his friends started a GoFundMe to raise money for Meloan to compete. It raised $1,350.

Players who tied for 21st on Sunday in Omaha earned $42,432 apiece.