Back in May, Jake Staiano got a text from someone at the PGA Tour saying he was involved in an integrity violation, but he didn’t think anything of it and figured his dad or caddie might’ve triggered a rogue warning.
During the week of the Korn Ferry Tour’s event at TPC Colorado in July, Staiano was approached by someone hired by the Tour to investigate the issue. A month later he spoke with the investigator for nearly an hour to confirm the four bets he placed, totaling $116.20.
After the first KFT playoff event in Boise, a rep from the Tour reached out to Staiano to let him know a decision was imminent. The penalties range from a slap on the wrist to losing your ability to compete in any Tour event, and Staiano thought he’d get the former. A week later he got an email from PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan saying he was suspended for three months for violating the PGA Tour’s “Integrity Program,” which clearly lays out that any golfer with professional status cannot bet on golf.
Wanting to get his side of the story out there, Staiano joined everyone’s favorite Monday qualifier Ryan French on his Any Given Monday podcast to discuss what happened and where he goes from here.
Staiano admitted he’d taken the course for the integrity program three times but made no excuses when owning up to his error.
“I understand the principles, I understand you can’t bet. They laid it out perfectly,” Staiano said. “I didn’t deny gambling.”
Staiano placed a $25 bet on Bryson DeChambeau to make a birdie on a par 5 in a PGA Tour event in 2021, then put three other bets on DeChambeau’s match against Brooks Koepka in November of 2021 because he didn’t view the made-for-TV exhibition as a professional golf event.
“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,” said Staiano. “Because it could be career-altering. I’m treating it like it’s not, but you never know, I might never get a chance to get back to Q-School. I don’t want that to happen to other people because it sucks, it’s tough. It’s a tough situation, it’s something that I have to live with, but I feel like not only myself but other people can learn from what I did.”
For more on Staiano’s appeal, and how the Tour figured out he placed bets two years ago, listen to the full episode of Any Given Monday here.
Story originally appeared on GolfWeek