Two players from the PGA’s Korn Ferry Tour have been suspended for three months after the tour determined they had violated the wagering policy.
The PGA Tour Commissioner’s Office announced the suspension of Vince India and Jake Staiano. India will sit out for six months and return in March, while Staiano will serve a three-month punishment and return in January.
The Korn Ferry Tour is a development tour for the PGA with the new season not starting until January, so Staiano will not miss any events.
The official statement from PGA did not offer details on precisely what the two athletes did beyond bet on golf. However, Staiano appeared on the Any Given Monday golf podcast and detailed exactly what he did to earn the suspension.
According to Staiano, he placed four wagers that amounted to $116. While one was on Bryson DeChambeau to birdie in a 2021 PGA Tour event, the other three were on the exhibition game between DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka. Staiano believed that because The Match was an exhibition game, it was alright to wager on the event.
Staiano also said he considered appealing his suspension but opted not to once he learned that, if he lost, he would be financially responsible for all the legal fees related to arbitration. He also said he went through mandatory education about the policy which was crystal clear, he just made a mistake.
“I’ve accepted my punishment. It is what it is. Fair or not, people can argue that, but one of my biggest things is I want to make sure other guys understand exactly what happened so that they don’t make the same thing mistake. Because it could be career-altering,” he said on the podcast.
According to Staiano, the league hired a firm to background check all golfers from the league to see if they were wagering. Staiano also spoke directly with the Colorado Division of Gaming because Colorado was the state where the wagers were placed.
