<div id="tourStoryHeadline"><h1>Rice
disqualified from BMW after caddie uses rangefinder</h1></div><div class="tourStoryFontSize"><div class="tourStoryFontSizeText">text size</div><div class="tourStoryFontPlus">
</div><div class="tourStoryFontMinus">
</div></div><div class="tourStoryQuickLinksTop">
</div> <div class="tourStoryInfo">May. 14, 2010
</div>
MILL SPRING, N.C. (AP) -- Maybe Jerry Rice should
have stuck to football.</p>
The Hall of Fame receiver was disqualified
from the Nationwide Tour event Friday because his caddie used a
range-finding scope to check yardages. The disqualification came a day
after Rice shot a 92, the highest round ever since the BMW Charity
Pro-Am began in 1992.</p>
"A rookie mistake that I made," Rice said
with a smile. "So I got DQed."</p>
Rice announced after a second-round
82 that he's done competing on golf's Triple-A circuit.</p>
"Because I
can't commit to golf the way I want to, this is probably my last
Nationwide Tour" event, Rice said. "These guys, they're working their
butts off and they deserve to be out here."</p>
The error by his
caddie means that Rice won't take part in Saturday's third round, the
last before the celebrity event cuts the field for Sunday's finale.</p>
Rice
was in violation of Rule 14.3, which prevents competitors from using a
yardage measuring device. His caddie checked the yardage scope several
times during the round at The Carolina Country Club.</p>
Rice was told
in the scorer's tent after improving to an 82 at Bright's Creek Golf
Club. The BMW Charity Pro-Am is played over three courses in North and
South Carolina.</p>
"It's OK," he said. "I had a great time meeting
friends and seeing fans."</p>
Rice made his tour debut last month at
the Fresh Express Classic, going 83-76 to miss the cut. Rice had hoped
to make major strides at the BMW and vowed earlier this week to buy
Cristal for the house if he made it to Sunday.</p>
That ended
dramatically in the first round, when he played the first nine holds in
13 over. He took a 10 on the par-4 second hole.</p>
There were no such
blowups on Friday. He had just one double bogey at Bright's Creek
compared with six holes of double bogey or worse on Thursday.</p>
His
worst mistake of the second round came on his 16th hole, the seventh,
when he needed two swings to get out of a greenside bunker. Other than
that, Rice kept his drives straight and his approach shots mostly on
target.</p>
"It was a little bit better than yesterday but I'm
learning a lot," Rice said. "I made mistakes yesterday and I tried to
come back and redeem myself a little bit."</p>
Rice was gracious and
jovial with his partners and the fans, some who had his famous No. 80
San Francisco jersey for him to sign.</p>
Rice, who'll be inducted
into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this summer, looked like he could
still wear out cornerbacks and safeties with his precise routes.</p>
One
time on the 618-yard 17th hole, Rice was walking to his ball way to the
right of the fairway when his pro partner Clint Jensen
cautioned the football star to be careful not to slip crossing a small
creek.</p>
"You don't think I can make that?" Rice said with a sly
grin. He cleared it with ease.</p>
It's pro golf that's not so easy
for Rice. He said he saw how hard the players work at their profession,
something he did for 20 seasons to become one of football's greats.</p>
"If
I can't fully commit to it, even though I really enjoy it," he's not
going to enter, Rice said. "There are some good golfers that really need
to get on this course."</p>
Rice wouldn't rule out returning to the
BMW Charity Pro-Am as a celebrity competitor, like baseball Hall of
Famer Jim Rice, Heisman Trophy winner George Rogers and actor Kurt
Russell -- all who took part this week.</p>
Tommy "Two Gloves" Gainey,
the former "Big Break" champion who shot a 64 Friday, says competitors
like Rice bring attention and prestige to the Nationwide Tour. "Plus he
looks like he could still lace them up" for football, Gainey said.</p>
Right
now, Rice thinks his golf future is purely recreational. He's glad for
the chance to try and the inside-the-ropes perspective he received from
other pros.</p>"Like I said, this was not a publicity stunt," Rice
said. "I came out here, I played hard and I tried my best.
disqualified from BMW after caddie uses rangefinder</h1></div><div class="tourStoryFontSize"><div class="tourStoryFontSizeText">text size</div><div class="tourStoryFontPlus">
</div> <div class="tourStoryInfo">May. 14, 2010
</div>
MILL SPRING, N.C. (AP) -- Maybe Jerry Rice should
have stuck to football.</p>
The Hall of Fame receiver was disqualified
from the Nationwide Tour event Friday because his caddie used a
range-finding scope to check yardages. The disqualification came a day
after Rice shot a 92, the highest round ever since the BMW Charity
Pro-Am began in 1992.</p>
"A rookie mistake that I made," Rice said
with a smile. "So I got DQed."</p>
Rice announced after a second-round
82 that he's done competing on golf's Triple-A circuit.</p>
"Because I
can't commit to golf the way I want to, this is probably my last
Nationwide Tour" event, Rice said. "These guys, they're working their
butts off and they deserve to be out here."</p>
The error by his
caddie means that Rice won't take part in Saturday's third round, the
last before the celebrity event cuts the field for Sunday's finale.</p>
Rice
was in violation of Rule 14.3, which prevents competitors from using a
yardage measuring device. His caddie checked the yardage scope several
times during the round at The Carolina Country Club.</p>
Rice was told
in the scorer's tent after improving to an 82 at Bright's Creek Golf
Club. The BMW Charity Pro-Am is played over three courses in North and
South Carolina.</p>
"It's OK," he said. "I had a great time meeting
friends and seeing fans."</p>
Rice made his tour debut last month at
the Fresh Express Classic, going 83-76 to miss the cut. Rice had hoped
to make major strides at the BMW and vowed earlier this week to buy
Cristal for the house if he made it to Sunday.</p>
That ended
dramatically in the first round, when he played the first nine holds in
13 over. He took a 10 on the par-4 second hole.</p>
There were no such
blowups on Friday. He had just one double bogey at Bright's Creek
compared with six holes of double bogey or worse on Thursday.</p>
His
worst mistake of the second round came on his 16th hole, the seventh,
when he needed two swings to get out of a greenside bunker. Other than
that, Rice kept his drives straight and his approach shots mostly on
target.</p>
"It was a little bit better than yesterday but I'm
learning a lot," Rice said. "I made mistakes yesterday and I tried to
come back and redeem myself a little bit."</p>
Rice was gracious and
jovial with his partners and the fans, some who had his famous No. 80
San Francisco jersey for him to sign.</p>
Rice, who'll be inducted
into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this summer, looked like he could
still wear out cornerbacks and safeties with his precise routes.</p>
One
time on the 618-yard 17th hole, Rice was walking to his ball way to the
right of the fairway when his pro partner Clint Jensen
cautioned the football star to be careful not to slip crossing a small
creek.</p>
"You don't think I can make that?" Rice said with a sly
grin. He cleared it with ease.</p>
It's pro golf that's not so easy
for Rice. He said he saw how hard the players work at their profession,
something he did for 20 seasons to become one of football's greats.</p>
"If
I can't fully commit to it, even though I really enjoy it," he's not
going to enter, Rice said. "There are some good golfers that really need
to get on this course."</p>
Rice wouldn't rule out returning to the
BMW Charity Pro-Am as a celebrity competitor, like baseball Hall of
Famer Jim Rice, Heisman Trophy winner George Rogers and actor Kurt
Russell -- all who took part this week.</p>
Tommy "Two Gloves" Gainey,
the former "Big Break" champion who shot a 64 Friday, says competitors
like Rice bring attention and prestige to the Nationwide Tour. "Plus he
looks like he could still lace them up" for football, Gainey said.</p>
Right
now, Rice thinks his golf future is purely recreational. He's glad for
the chance to try and the inside-the-ropes perspective he received from
other pros.</p>"Like I said, this was not a publicity stunt," Rice
said. "I came out here, I played hard and I tried my best.