And then there were four ...

At the start of Tuesday's episode, Don Donatello, Mike Foster, Tommy Gainey, Ashley Gomes and David Gunas remained in competition. But one hour and three questionable decisions later, one of the show's most popular "characters" - a lightning rod for conversation - was gone.

You know who we're talking about: Double-D, Don Donatello. No more "boo-yahs" in this series.

Following a round of B-R-E-A-K (this show's version of H-O-R-S-E), David Gunas wound up earning immunity. That sent Don, Mike, Tommy and Ashley into the Elimination Challenge.

But Don had a "get out of jail free" card in his pocket. In an earlier episode he had earned a $5,000 check from Dick's Sporting Goods. However, he couldn't cash it until the contestants were down to the Final Four. Prior to that, he could trade in the check in exchange for immunity.

So here was Don heading into elimination - would he keep the check and put himself into the Elimination Challenge? Would he turn over the check, claim immunity and move on to the next show? If he kept the check, entered Elimination and lost, he'd also lose the check. Decisions, decisions ...

And that's when the questionable decisions began.

Don decided to keep the $5,000 and put himself at risk in the Elimination Challenge. The other contestants all said they'd have taken the immunity without even thinking about it ... but they expected Don to keep the check and go into the Elimination Challenge. Why? Pride. As Don declined immunity, he said, "I want to prove I've got guts."

The first part of the Elimination Challenge was a putting competition. Tommy won and dropped out, safe until the next show. Don was first to miss, putting him one stroke down going to the second phase.

Which was a par-3 hole played twice, once from forward tees (still about a 180-yard shot for the men), once from back tees (about 215 yards for the men). High total score gets eliminated.

Don was the only one to par the hole the first time. Mike and Ashley bogeyed.

On to the back tees. Here's where bad decision No. 2 comes in. Don missed the green well right, winding up in a waste bunker. Ashley pushed hers even farther right into that waste bunker. She hit out of the bunker, but left her ball short of the green in a difficult position.

So Don, rather than playing to the green, decided just to hit a little kind of punch shot out of the bunker, landing the ball just on the outside of the bunker and letting his ball settle in the collection area. What? It made no sense, and flummoxed the other players. He claimed it was a safe play, but it really just left him with a very difficult chip, more difficult than Ashley's. Which was borne out when Ashley wound up beating him on the hole to even their score. (Mike was also even with them at this point.)

So on to a playoff, replaying from the back tees. Don hit 3-iron off the tee from 215 yards and into a headwind. But that's not even included in our list of three questionable decisions. He came up 30 yards short of the ideal landing area and well short of the green.

Mike wound up making an easy par to be safe. Ashley's tee ball was right again, but in the collection area rather than the waste bunker. She would chip up to about 8-10 feet.

Questionable decision No. 3 for Donatello: He decided to putt from off the green. He was putting through quite an expanse of fringe, then up a sort of semi-false front, all the way up a deep green to middle-back pin. Again, the other competitors were flummoxed by the decision.

And Don wound up ramming the putt 15 feet past the hole. His par try just slid past the edge. That meant Ashley could knock out Don if she made her par putt. Which she did.

Don Donatello is eliminated from "Big Break VII."