Mickelson hit with two-shot penalty after hotel gaffe

Singapore :Phil Mickelson was hit with an embarrassing two-stroke penalty at the Singapore Open on Sunday after the U.S. Masters champion was late for the resumption of the final round following a bad weather delay.

Mickelson had returned to his hotel during a five-and-a-half-hour break due to thunderstorms and lightning at the $6 million co-sanctioned tournament. The American had been under the impression there would be no more play on Sunday, when in fact players were sent back out for 90 minutes before darkness descended at the Sentosa Golf Club."Phil Mickelson was late for the resumption of play this afternoon due to the fact that he was under the misapprehension that play had been called for the day and that the round was going to be resumed at 7:30 am in the morning," the European Tour`s chief referee John Paramor said in a statement. "He arrived at the first tee ... just after the klaxon had gone for the restart so unfortunately he was late and as a result he was given a two-stroke penalty. "However, he avoided disqualification because he arrived within five minutes."Mickelson has not enjoyed the happiest of tournaments in Singapore, finishing up his round on Saturday with an ugly triple-bogey eight. Mickelson, on four-under-par, is 13 stokes behind leader Adam Scott and will have the two-shot penalty imposed at the end of play on Monday. "We believe that he heard something from someone in the club, which led him to believe that play had been called for the day," Paramor continued. "However it certainly was not one of the officials of the golf tournament. It is unfortunate, but it was just a misunderstanding." Bureau Report