No one would have known. And a full-time spot on the PGA Tour in 2009 was on the line. But Hayes, honoring the tradition of a game where the players police themselves, turned himself in and was disqualified.

Hayes had a choice: He could have said nothing and kept playing, with no one aware of his mistake. Or he could turn himself in and let his mistake cost him a 2009 PGA Tour card.

He chose the latter.

Based on the current prevailing feelings toward Hayes' ethical maneuver, don't be surprised if tournament sponsors are ringing his phone off the hook this week in hopes of lining him up as a special invite for their upcoming events. In fact, such an outreach could lead to a scenario in which Hayes is actually able to enter more tourneys than if he had simply swept the incident under the rug, continued on to the final stage of Q-school and qualified through those means.