European Tour

Dyson set to learn fate at Wentworth

ESPN staff

December 5, 2013

Dyson faces a three-man panel at the European Tour's headquarters at Wentworth © Getty Images

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Simon Dyson will find out on Thursday if he will be further punished following his disqualification from the BMW Masters in October.

While on the eighth green during the second round, the 35-year-old Englishman appeared to use his ball to fix a spike mark on the line of his putt - an act which is not allowed under the Rules of Golf.

He was disqualified from the Munich event for failing to add a two-shot penalty to his card.

Golf shooting itself in the foot

Dyson was disqualified while in a decent position to earn some good money at the BMW Masters - surely punishment enough?
He broke the rules, he has accepted that. Deliberately? Only he knows. But watch the video below and try and argue that he did it to try and gain an advantage.
It was a mistake, simple as that. Talk of Dyson losing his European Tour status is beyond ridiculous. It just gets harder and harder to defend golf and its archaic rules and traditions.
It can be a tiresome argument but it's worth mentioning - would Tiger Woods be treated this way?
Alex Perry, ESPN

Senior officials called the incident a "serious breach of the Tour's code of behaviour" and Dyson, a six-time European Tour champion, will appear before a three-man disciplinary panel at Wentworth.

The panel is to be chaired by Ian Mill QC, who will be joined by an experienced sports administrator and an ex-member of the European Tour or current European Senior Tour player.

Speaking in a statement released by his management in October, Dyson said: "I am perfectly happy to co-operate with the investigation by the independent disciplinary panel.

"I would like to say at this stage that I have never deliberately broken the rules either on this occasion or in the past. It was only after I was shown the replay of my action after marking the ball on the eighth green during the second round that I realised what I had done and that I was in breach. I immediately accepted that I should be disqualified.

"My action was in no way a deliberate act with the intention of breaking the rules. It was simply an accidental mistake."

Dyson is likely to be hit with a fine and a brief suspension, but there is no cap to the punishment and he could face expulsion from the European Tour altogether.

The incident was just the latest in a line of offences which have been missed by officials before being picked up by television viewers.