The PGA Tour just served up one of the wildest plot twists of the season, and it has nothing to do with a clutch putt or playoff drama.
A simple clerical mistake has turned the Korn Ferry Tour’s Pinnacle Bank Championship into a controversy. On Friday, the Tour confirmed that South African pro MJ Daffue was mistakenly allowed into the Omaha, Nebraska, event despite not actually qualifying.
The mix-up came when Daffue, whose major medical exemption expired after his last PGA Tour start at the ISCO Championship, was incorrectly listed in the “PGA Tour Members Not Exempt for Current PGA Tour Event” category instead of being slotted into the reordered points list, where his status would not have been good enough to make the field.
That error came at the expense of 25-year-old Rayhan Thomas, a second-year pro ranked 107th on the Korn Ferry Tour points list. Thomas should have been in the field but was left out. Instead, he spent most of Thursday on site as the first alternate before finally heading home to Oklahoma. After missing this week entirely, Thomas is projected to drop to 112th in the standings with only one regular-season event remaining before the four-tournament Korn Ferry Tour Finals.
The Tour issued a statement Friday calling it “an unfortunate error” and promised to work with Thomas to “provide an equitable solution.” No specifics have been offered yet.
Daffue Makes the Most of His “Oops” Entry
And here’s where the story takes a dramatic turn — Daffue is crushing it. Through two rounds, the 36-year-old has gone 67-65 and sits tied for second at 9-under, just one shot off the lead. In 18 starts this year, he hasn’t posted a single top-10 finish. Now, thanks to the mistake, he’s projected to rocket from 111th to 66th in points — a massive jump with major implications for his season.
If this sounds familiar, it’s because the LPGA dealt with its own paperwork fiasco earlier this year, when Sophia Popov was mistakenly given higher status coming off injury and maternity leave, bumping rightful alternates from three events.
For Thomas, the lost opportunity could be the difference between playing for a PGA Tour card in the Finals — or watching from the sidelines. For Daffue, the gaffe could end up being the lucky break of his career.
