Davis Riley assessed two-stroke penalty for using slope feature on distance-measuring device at THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson

Davis Riley was assessed a two-stroke penalty Saturday morning for using a distance-measuring device that had the slope feature turned on. There was no real knowledge to be gained, given how flat things are at TPC Craig Ranch. But rules are rules – despite how new said set of rules are.

With Riley’s brain in a blender, he said he leaned on his caddie to steer him around his second nine and to just 11 feet on the par-5 ninth, his closing hole of the day, and poured in the eagle putt to see him make the cut at THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson on the number.

“When something like that happens, you just have to own it up, and that's just part of the game,” Riley said. “The integrity of the game.”

This is the third week the PGA TOUR has been doing testing with distance-measuring devices and Riley said he and his caddie had been doing “a good job of double-checking” that the slope feature was not turned on. Having that on gives golfers a displayed distance which accounts for changes in elevation and, essentially, gives golfers a better and more accurate understanding of how a shot will play.

Riley had hit his tee shot on the par-3 17th to just 12 feet and was sitting at even par for the day.

Riley admitted it was a bit of a fluke situation where the rangefinder was in its case and then pulled out to measure, and in that transition, a button must have accidentally been pushed.

He ended up shooting 1-over 36 for his first nine holes.

“It was just kind of one of those moments where your heart sinks a little bit, like you're just throwing away two shots,” Riley said. “It is what it is. That's the rules of golf. And we certainly have a trial period here with this, and I know the USGA is trying to do something about the range finder and the pace of play.

“I don't know if there's a way around it and a different angle to look at it, but, yeah, it was just a bad break. I'm just happy the way I rallied.”

Riley bounced back with a birdie on the par-5 18th after the penalty and made bogeys on Nos. 3 and 6 before coming to the ninth hole telling himself he needed an eagle to find the weekend.

Riley said he hit a good drive – which barely found the rough – then hit a perfectly judged 5-iron. His putt was about three inches outside left and he hit it center cut.

“I was real excited about that,” Riley said.

Scottie Scheffler continues to lead THE CJ CUP by six shots with the second round wrapping up Saturday afternoon due to a lengthy weather delay on Friday, with his 8-under 63 holding up as the lowest score of the second round.

This is not, however, the first time that Riley has called a penalty on himself in a tournament that involves Scheffler. In the final of the 2013 U.S. Junior Amateur, Riley called a one-stroke penalty on himself when he addressed a birdie putt and his ball moved. That resulted in him losing to Scheffler 3 and 2.

The times have changed, but Riley’s integrity has not.

“I love this game, and that's one of the beautiful things about this game is the integrity all of us PGA TOUR players and golfers uphold that standard to ourself,” Riley said. “This is a game of integrity, so play with it and act that way.”