Russell Henley Penalized 8 Strokes, Misses Mayakoba Classic Cut After Ball Mix-Up

A golf-ball mix-up wound up costing Russell Henley a spot in the field for the final two rounds at the Mayakoba Classic this weekend.

The PGA Tour announced Saturday that Henley received an eight-shot penalty when he alerted rules officials of a "One Ball Rule" infraction during the second round.

Per ESPN's Bob Harig, Henley unwittingly switched his ball during the middle of the round:

"Henley discovered after the round when autographing golf balls for spectators that he had a different brand of golf ball in his bag and didn't know how it got there. He then determined he had used that ball for four holes during the round -- the ninth through the 12th -- and it was a different type of the Titleist Pro V1x he uses."

PGA Tour rules official Brad Fabel said the difference in the ball was only "a small dash" that "would have been easy to overlook," per Cameron Morfit of PGATour.com.

Morfit noted the officials researched and discussed the situation for 90 minutes before making a ruling.

The decision wound up taking Henley's second-round score from 69 to 77. His 36-hole score went from seven-under to one-over par and two shots off the cut line.

A score of seven-under par would have had Henley tied for 12th place with six other players. The 30-year-old has his first missed cut of the 2019-20 PGA Tour season in five tournaments.