Graeme McDowell received a two-shot penalty after his ball moved while he was walking towards it, writes PHILIP REID

LITTLE THINGS can wreck a card. An errant tee shot. Or an inadvertent rules violation. Maybe both? Graeme McDowell, a stickler for the rules, fell victim to the rulebook on the 18th hole of his opening round here over the West Course and, with one movement of his pen, added two penalty strokes to his card before signing it as a 72 became a 74 and put him into a battle to survive the midway cut.

The root cause of his problem was a wayward drive on the par-five finishing hole into trees. What happened thereafter, though, was pure bad luck as, in going into foliage to see where his ball had finished up and whether he could get a club to it, McDowell’s movement also caused the ball to move a fraction.

At the time, he wasn’t sure that it had moved. And, so, he played it as it lay. However, in walking up the 18th fairway, something nagged at him. The vibe wasn’t right. And, so, he called over Sky Sports on-course commentator Richard Boxall and asked him to check if something was amiss. Had the cameras by any chance picked up any movement?

McDowell went on to complete his round. His third shot – of actual play – from a fairway bunker left him with a tricky pitch to a tight pin off a downslope. He pitched to 10 feet, and rolled in the putt. He had taken 72 strokes. It could have been better, but, all in all, it wasn’t anything to get down about.

By the time McDowell reached the recorder’s hut, events had overtaken him. Television executives had alerted John Paramor, the European Tour’s chief referee, about a possible infringement. McDowell wasn’t the least surprised.

And when he went to the TV compound with Paramor, the high-definition slow-motion images confirmed the ball had moved. McDowell reckoned it had “rotated a couple of dimples”. Paramor felt it was slightly more. But the bottom line was that the ball had moved, and he was assessed a two-stroke penalty under Rule 20-7 for playing the ball from the wrong place.

“If he thought the ball may have moved, at that stage you go, ‘stop, get someone here’ and ask them and at least he’s got the golden parachute,” explained Paramor, as he would only have incurred a one-shot penalty under Rule 18-2 if the ball had moved and he replaced it to its original position. “There’s a few guys who have got on the wrong side of the rule and it’s harsh, and it’s there for everyone’s protection.”

In fairness to McDowell, who had raised the doubt himself in asking Boxall to check if the ball had oscillated, he took his punishment on the chin.

“The TV cameras were there. We got it in slow-mo, hi-def, there’s no arguing . . . a six turned into an eight, and I played okay. I was cruising along quite nicely and [got delayed] playing 17 and got out of my rhythm and made a bad swing on 18. that’s the way the rules go,” said McDowell.

McDowell wasn’t addressing the ball or anything like that when the infringement occurred. “Looking back, I don’t know what I could have done.

“The ball was perched until I got 10 feet from it and at that point it was too late. It’s just one of those freak scenarios in golf.

“Unfortunately, it was a compounded error [because he didn’t call a referee for advice}.”

At least McDowell can go into the second round attempting to play catch-up and to survive the midway cut.

When Peter Whiteford infringed the same rule – when one off the lead in his third round of the Avantha Masters in India this season – he was disqualified.