Once again, there is an intersection of two of my favorite subjects: Golf and Rules. I cannot let the opportunity to editorialize pass by.
I’m referring, of course, to the absurd result of Padraig Harrington’s disqualification from the Dubai classic for a miniscule rules violation. Paddy’s finger grazed his golf ball as he picked up his ball marker, in the process moving the ball maybe 1/32 on an inch. The movement was so minimal that he didn’t even notice.
Since he didn’t notice, he didn’t call a penalty on himself. Since he didn’t call a penalty on himself, the rationale goes; the scorecard he signed was incorrect. Since he signed an incorrect scorecard, he was disqualified.
What this amounts to is that for inadvertent moving of the ball a small fraction of an inch on a course some 7,000 yards long, he was disqualified.
The infraction does not merit this extreme of a penalty.
One of the most galling aspects to this injustice is that a television viewer noticed the infraction and “called it in”. How did the viewer get the number for the “Rules hotline”, whom did he speak to, and how did that person convince the rules official to make a ruling penalizing Paddy?
Why does golf allow amateur rules observers to impact the result of a tournament? I’m still ticked about that crazy ump ringing up Ryan Howard to end the Phillies loss to the Giants. Would they listen to me if I called to say the pitch was low?
I could elaborate for pages, but let me summarize as follows:
The rules of golf need to be changed to allow for more fair, common sense application. In other words, the penalty needs to fit the crime. Golf, whether professional or high level amateurs, should not take officiating direction from amateur viewers. And if, in hindsight, a rules violation comes to light, and a penalty needs to be assessed, a player should be allowed to “amend” his scorecard, rather than suffer disqualification.
