"Fire the caddie" - Fans enraged as PGA Tour pro gets unusual 4 stroke penalty ruling

Fans on social media have reacted to PGA Tour pro Joel Dahmen getting a four-stroke penalty for having an extra club at the 2024 Shriners Children's Open. The American golfer carried 15 clubs during the first round of the PGA Tour event on Thursday, October 17.

As per USGA Rule 4.1b, players are only allowed to have 14 clubs when they start the game and throughout the round. However, Joel Dahmen was carrying 15 clubs in his bag, thus violating the rule, and received a four-stroke penalty.

The NUCLR Golf shared the news about the penalty on its X (formerly Twitter) account, writing:

"#PENALTY — Joel Dahmen was assessed a 4 stroke penalty after having 15 clubs in his bag at the Shriners."

However, fans in the comments section slammed his caddie, Geno Bonnalie, for not checking the bag before the start of the match.

"Fire the caddie," a fan wrote.

"Not good geno," another fan commented.

Some fans called it a "silly error."

"What a silly error. Fire the caddy!," one more fan wrote.

"Really? I mean I know the number in my bag for a stupid men's club event. I get his caddie is supposed to set up his bag but he is ultimately responsible for knowing what is in that bag," a fan jotted.

Here are more fans reactions:

Fan's reaction (Image via X/@NUCLRGOLF)

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"It's not his fault either" – Joel Dahmen came to his caddie's defense after the latter faced criticism for the four-stroke penalty at the PGA Tour event

Following the round, Joel Dahmen defended his caddie, stating that it would be an easy thing to blame him, but "it's not his fault either." He went on to add that he played during the practice round and didn't realize he was carrying two 4-irons. His one extra 4-iron caused him the penalty.

"Bizarro. Never happened to me before. I travel with 15, 16 clubs. I think most people out here do depending on conditions and courses. You know, been traveling out here for a long time and never happened before. I'd like it blame [caddie] Geno [Bonnalie]," Dahmen said (via Golf Digest).

"That would be the easy thing to do. It's not his fault either. I played Tuesday and Wednesday out here. We didn't see it in there. It was an extra 4-iron, so I had two 4-irons in the bag," he added.

As per Rule 4.1b, a player can only carry 14 clubs in their bag during a tournament. However, if they carry more, they are granted a two-stroke penalty for each hole played before removing the extra club. But a player can't receive a penalty of more than four strokes.

Dahmen was playing on the fourth hole when he learned about the extra club and was given a four-stroke penalty. Due to the penalty, he settled with a total score of 5 over and finished in 131st position. He shot two birdies and three bogeys and received the four-stroke penalty.

Notably, the play was suspended due to darkness on Thursday and will resume its first round on Friday, October 18, at 11:10 a.m. ET.