The PGA suspended two players late last week for violations of the PGA Tour Integrity Program related to sports betting. Both players were found to have placed bets on professional golf events in violation of stated PGA policy (and widely observed customs). Neither player, however, bet on events in which they were actually participating.
Vince India, a 34-year-old who has been a professional golfer since 2019 caught a six-month suspension for placing bets on PGA events. India has earned $569,844 on the Tour since then, but hasn’t posted a top-ten finish for the last year. He’s eligible to return to professional golf this coming March. India has not yet commented publicly on the suspension.
Jake Staiano, 26, is fairly new to professional golf with just two seasons and $30,910 in earnings under his belt. Staiano placed four bets totaling $116.25 on various player props, including one wager on an exhibition event. But small wagers on exhibition events violate both the spirit and the letter of the PGA Integrity Program, thus the suspension.
Staiano took responsibility for his actions in a recent interview with Golf Digest saying, “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. 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.”
India has made no public comment on his suspension thus far.