Whiteford, tied for second place overnight, had already begun his final round in New Delhi when officials notified him that a ball-moving incident late in his third round had been reviewed, resulting in his disqualification.

Apparently, several viewers contacted the European Tour website to report that television replays on Saturday had shown that Whiteford's ball had moved slightly before he played his third shot to the 18th green.

Because he had already signed for his card, it meant disqualification.

"Peter felt his ball may have moved and for confirmation asked his caddie, a fellow competitor and a TV cameraman, who said they didn't thinkPing g20 irons + ping g20 driver
had, and so he continued on to finish the hole," said European Tour chief referee John Paramor.

"Overnight several viewers contacted the Tour website. This was reviewed by the Rules Committee, who were able to determine that the ball had in fact moved. He should have incurred a penalty of one stroke and replaced the ball.

"As he did not do so, he was disqualified for signing for a score lower than taken for failing to include the penalty he had incurred. If he had contacted a member of the Rules Team before signing his scorecard, the footage would have been reviewed at the time and he would have averted the disqualification penalty."

Whiteford was disappointed, but accepted the ruling.

"I should have reviewed it," said the Scot. "You can see Ping g20 irons + ping g20 driver
when you look at tv. John spoke to me before I went out, so to be honest my head wasn't in it from the first tee.