Sandwich, July 23: Mark Roe claims he would have refused to play the final round of the Open even if the decision to disqualify him had been reversed. Roe and his playing partner Jesper Parnevik were both thrown out of the tournament at the end of the third round after they failed to exchange scorecards and signed for the wrong score.
The 40-year-old was lying in joint fourth place after a superb third-round 67.
"I wouldn't have wanted to because I know in my own heart that I play the game of golf the way it should be played and that I play to the rules," he said ahead of the Nissan Irish Open. "I broke the rules - albeit that in this case the punishment doesn't fit the crime.

"People have said you should be able to write it on a scrap of paper as long as there are two signatures, but it's my responsibility and I made the mistake and I live with that.

"I would not have played if they had overturned it. It wouldn't have been in my nature to do that.

"I think it will be something that people will remind me of for a very long time. That won't be a problem to me and it will always be there in my mind.

"Maybe now what will happen is that starters on the tee will hand you your opponent's card. That's what I would like to see happen - this should never happen to anyone else again."

On the PGA Tour in the US, the cards are exchanged by the starter, but in Europe the players are handed their own cards and must remember to swap.

"Many times in the past I've asked the starter to give me my opponent's card and he's said 'No, I've been instructed to hand you your own card and you must exchange after that,' said Roe.

"It was the first time in 20 years as a tournament pro I haven't exchanged. Why in the third round of the Open when I shoot one of the best rounds of my life did I do it that day?

"But it's only a professional problem, it's not a life problem. It's not like someone calling to say my children are ill.

"Those are hard problems to deal with - this isn't."

Bureau Report.