Golf Star Loses $275,000 as Mistake He Had No Idea About Is Caught on Camera

Spanish golf star David Puig made a strange mistake in the final hole of the Dubai Desert Classic that cost him $275,000.

Over the weekend, several of the biggest names in golf competed in the Hero Dubai Desert Classic held on the Majlis course at Emirates Golf Club in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry and several other stars of the European Tour were among those that took part in the tournament from January 22nd-25th.

The prize pot for the tournament was set at a breathtaking $9,000,000 (£6,579,225), a massive $6,250,000 (£4,568,906) more than the Dubai Invitational that took place in the same city just one week earlier.

But Puig failed to capitalise on this massive financial opportunity after one mistake in the final moments of his round cost him nearly $300,000 (£219,298)

Patrick Reed won the Dubai Desert Classic 2026. (Image: Waleed Zein/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Heading into the final day of the Dubai Desert Classic, Puig was sitting in second place, just four shots behind playing partner and eventual winner Patrick Reed.

However, things suddenly fell apart for the 24-year-old, as three bogeys in a five-hole stretch on the final nine holes ruled out any chances he had of banking the $1,530,000 (£1,117,519) awarded to the winner.

Thankfully, Puig was able to gather himself and make par on the final hole to finish the round just one over the course par of 73, putting him tied in third place with Julien Guerrier

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But things went from bad to worse for the Spaniard, as moments after finishing his round he was handed a two-stroke penalty for grounding his club in the greenside bunker during his third shot on the final hole.

Although he revealed that he wasn't even aware that he'd committed the violation, Puig later agreed that he had breached rule 12.2b when watching footage of the incident.

Puig's mistake on the final hole cost him a huge pay day. (Image: Waleed Zein/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The two-point penalty saw Puig drop from a third-place tie that would have given him $508,500 (£371,385) down to a tie for seventh place with Ricardo Gouveia and Marcus Armitage.

This drop down the table also saw the golf star's prize drop down to $234,000, a difference of just under $275,000.

Crucially, the penalty also saw Puig miss out on some potentially crucial world ranking points as the world no.99 chases a place in the top-50, helping him secure a place in all four major championships this year.