Scottish Pro Banned Until 2005 for Cheating

Scottish golfer David Robertson has been banned until the year 2005 and fined $7,000 for repeated cheating during qualifying for last month’s British Open golf tournament, the Professional Golfers Assn. European Tour announced.

The 28-year-old former British youth champion moved his ball to a better lie at least five times--by up to 10 feet--according to one of his caddies, who walked off the links in disgust midway through the round.

Caddy Paul Connolly, 20, who handed Robertson’s golf bag to a replacement after nine holes, said: “I walked off because I couldn’t stand what I was seeing.”

Robertson was disqualified on the 14th hole of the last qualifying round at the Princes course in southeast England on July 14.

It was the fourth disqualification of his career, during which he has been accused of improperly marking his ball on the green and falsely filling out his scorecard.

Robertson denied the charges and has 28 days in which to appeal the penalty, which association officials said they believe to be the most severe in the history of the game.

“It is a sad day for golf,” said Ken Schofield, executive director of the European Tour. “The decision was taken with a view to protecting the integrity of the game and as a warning to everybody. We do appreciate, though, that the great majority of golfers play the game the way it was intended.”