Prize money consolation for Roe & Parnevik

Britain's Mark Roe and Swede Jesper Parnevik, who were disqualified from the Open on Saturday following a scorecard mix-up, will still receive prize money, officials said on Monday.

Roe and Ryder Cup player Parnevik will each receive 8,250 pounds ($13,080) for finishing joint-74th in last-place prize money, having made the halfway cut, they added.

"If a player is disqualified, he will not receive prize money unless the championship committee waives the condition, and we have waived it in the case of Mark Roe and Jesper Parnevik," championship committee chairman David Pepper told a news conference at Royal St George's.

Asked if the players were aware of their surprise windfall, he replied: "I doubt it, it will just come through in the normal way with prize money in the next few days."

Roe, a long-standing European Tour pro, and his playing partner Jesper Parnevik of Sweden were both disqualified for signing for the wrong scores after failing to exchange cards at the start of Saturday's third round.

It meant that, effectively, Roe signed for Parnevik's return of 81, instead of his joint best-of-the-week 67.

Roe, one over par for the tournament at the time, would have ended the day in a tie for third had he retained his place in the field.

The Royal and Ancient (R&A), responsible for golf rules in Britain as well as the running of the Open, has said it will review its procedures before next year's championship at Royal Troon, but it stands firm on abiding by the rules of the game.

"The Mark Roe incident was a great tragedy," said R&A secretary Peter Dawson. "No one ever likes to see that, but I think everything has been said that can be about that.

"We'd be crazy not to review our procedure thoroughly and we will pause for reflection over the winter and have a thorough review.

"But the rules of golf are unlikely to be adjusted over this incident because they are the central pillar of the game.

"Yes, there was a human error with the R&A recording system on this occasion and it should have been picked up. That's very unfortunate.

"But, while there was a certain degree of blame there, there was no transfer of responsibility. We don't take any of the responsibility, which clearly falls on the player under the rules."

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