PGA Tour announce suspension of two players for breaking rules
Korn Ferry Tour duo Vince India and Jake Staiano have received suspensions barring them from playing in PGA Tour competitions after they breached the tour's betting regulations
The PGA Tour have suspended Korn Ferry Tour stars Vince India and Jake Staiano for violating betting rules.
The PGA Tour announced it had suspended two players for violating the Integrity Program. The players, revealed to be India and Staiano, were found to have placed bets on PGA Tour competitions.
Updated in September 2021, the PGA Tour Integrity Program aims to ‘prevent and mitigate betting-related corruption in PGA Tour competitions’. Per the official guidelines, the program applies to ‘all tours owned and/or operated by PGA Tour, Inc. (the ‘PGA Tour’) anywhere in the world’.
It therefore makes sense as to why India and Staiano - ineligible to compete on the PGA Tour - were banned as they violated the policy by betting on the tour’s events. While the pair did not bet on tournaments they were involved in, they still breached regulations.
India is suspended from PGA Tour competitions for six months, with his suspension starting on 18 September 2023 and running through 17 March 2024. Staiano received a three-month suspension, which began on 11 September 2023 and is set to run through 10 December 2023.
Their suspension was announced in a statement on Friday. Tour officials did not provide any further details about the violations of the PGA Tour Integrity Program.
India - who is currently ranked No. 936 in the world - attended the University of Iowa and turned professional in 2011. The 34-year-old made 21 starts on the Korn Ferry Tour this season, and his best finish was a T21 at the NV5 Invitational bac in July.
The American has been a fulltime member of the Korn Ferry Tour since 2019 and boasts career earnings of $569,844. He had eight top-10 finishes from 2019-23 but didn’t post a top-10 this season in 22 starts, while making half the cuts. He has three career PGA Tour starts without making a cut.
Meanwhile, Staiano turned professional in 2019 after a college career at Colorado State. The 26-year-old was played two seasons on the Korn Ferry Tour, earning $30,910 after making six cuts. Stainao made eight starts in 2023, securing a top-25 finish once.
