Yet another pro golf injustice

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.

Rules "violations" highlight need for changes

I just read an interesting piece on Golf Channel’s website about the oddities of rules violations on the PGA tour this year. See http://www.thegolfchannel.com/tour-insider/poulters-blunder-latest-year-bizarre-rulings-40539/

Since my main career as a District Judge and lawyer involve interpretation of laws and rules, I feel compelled to comment.

There have been many times over the years when supposed rules violations have cost players victories or many thousands of dollars. The situation has gotten more and more attention as television covers a greater number of holes in an increasing number of tournaments.

Remember years ago when Raymond Floyd was penalized for “building a stance”? He had placed a towel on the ground to protect his knees and pants from the wet ground when he had to kneel to hit a shot. It was ridiculous. He was trying to keep his pants clean, not build a stance. He got no advantage from the towel.

Last week, Ian Poulter was penalized a shot when he dropped his ball on his ball marker, and it moved. It may have cost him more than $400,000. As reported on the Golf Channel web site, “Jeff Hall of the USGA points out, the marker is the equivalent of the ball. If Poulter’s ball had been on the green and moved ever so slightly, “I suspect most people wouldn’t have the emotional connection to a penalty,” Hall said.

“At the end of the day, our rules are clear,” Hall said. “Our game is unique from all others. It requires us to know the rules.”

Well, I disagree, Mr. Hall. Movement by Poulter’s ball on the green would only have resulted in a penalty if he had addressed it.

I also disagree with the penalty assessed to Dustin Johnson at the PGA, which cost him a chance at a playoff. The issue came down to whether he was in a clearly defined bunker. The officials said he was. I don’t think so.

I really think that the Rules of Golf need to be changed to account for plain violations which result in an advantage to a player and inadvertent ones which do not. I’d also like to see players be assigned a rules advocate. And yes, Mr. and Mrs. USGA, I’d be willing to volunteer.

Tiger now merely superb

I feel like I need to comment on the very unusual occurrence of Tiger Woods losing a final round lead to let a tournament victory slip away. Yesterday, in case you didn’t notice, Tiger scored a 7 on a par 5 on the 13th hole. 2010 U.S. Open champ Graeme McDowell, meanwhile had a birdie 4. The 3 shot swing took Tiger from 1 shot ahead to 2 behind. He rallied to tie it up, but McDowell sank a superb putt in the playoff to seal the victory.
A few years ago, this kind of thing was unthinkable. Tiger was the greatest player in the world, and he almost never missed a shot or a putt when it mattered most. Now it appears that Tiger is merely a fantastic player, and not heads and shoulders above all others.
Tiger has been through a world of problems in the last year: A car accident, all sorts of tawdry revelations about his personal life, a divorce, lost endorsements, and who knows what else.
I blame Tiger’s mere excellence on more than just those things. The fact is, is that there are many great players coming up who are playing brilliantly and whose competitive spirit will drive them to try ever harder to beat the best in the world – Tiger. Besides McDowell, Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, Camillo Villegas, Paul Casey, Justin Rose and many others are poised to compete.
The 2011 tour starts in early January. It should be a very entertaining show. Tune in.

Ryder Cup fast approaching

All fans of big time tournament golf should check their listings and set aside some time for watching the Ryder Cup next weekend.
If you are new to this, here are some things you need to know about the Ryder Cup.
It pits teams from the United States against Europe.
There are 3 kinds of matches: Foursomes, Four ball, and Individual matches. In foursomes, the players hit alternate shots. It is a rarely used format, but it can be quite entertaining. Four ball takes the best score on each hole from each team, and compares it to the best score from the other team. The lowest score wins the hole. Naturally, as all of the players in the tournament are among the best in the world, it’s going to take birdie or better to win a hole. Individual matches, played last, pit individual against individual.
The players take these matches very seriously. They are playing for their country or their team, and there is a great deal of pride and bragging rights involved.
The matches, particularly if the cup is at stake based on the result of a particular match, can be very dramatic.
The Ryder Cup is always one of the most entertaining golf events on the colander, right behind the Masters.
My advice: Forget about football for the weekend, and focus on the Ryder Cup. It should be a blast.

Local favorite Jim Furyk disqualified

Jim Furyk was disqualified from The Barclays, this week’s tour stop, because he missed his tee time for the pro-am. It’s interesting to see all of the pros and cons on The Golf Channel Blog. Surely Jim just flat out screwed up. His cell phone, which he used for an alarm clock, was out of power and did not work. This seems like the kind of mistake that could happen to many of us.
The tour had to pass the rule about missing the pro-am, because it has to be a nightmare for a pro trying to make a living, to have to play golf for 6 hours with dreadful hackers.
On the other hand, the most sensible comments I ever heard from a pro about pro-ams came from Greg Norman. Norman talked about how he appreciated the money the amateurs paid (much of which ends up with a charity). But Greg tried to establish a rapport with the business savvy golfers, and, over the years, established many great business connections in the process. This seems like a real win win for Greg AND the players. How much fun would it be to talk to your local country club friends about your business relationship with Greg Norman?

Tiger in the news again.

Well there are 2 big news stories about the world of golf floating around cyberspace.
The first is about Elin Nordegrin, Tiger Woods’ now ex-wife, who gave an interview to the esteemed “People” magazine. I’m not really interested in Tiger’s private life, and I doubt if many golf fans are. I am kind of interested in the divorce from a divorce lawyer point of view. None of my cases involve a husband who is one of the most famous people in the world, and who has made a billion dollars in his 33 year life. It is interesting to see that no matter how charmed one’s life is, as Tiger’s appeared to be, he is not immune from the mistakes, heartache, trouble, and stress that ordinary Joes out there suffer.
I’m still rooting for Tiger to return to top form next year, win a Major or two, and gain a little ground on the greatest golfer in history, Jack Nicklaus.

Dustin Johnson was robbed by erroneous decision.

I have been away in Cape May on vacation, and away from the keyboard, so I haven’t had a chance to blog on the PGA. But I’m home now, and I just had to weigh in on the developments in the PGA. After all, I’m probably the only golf writer in the country who is also an experienced lawyer and a sitting judge. I do interpret rules and laws for a living, so maybe I’m the right guy to speak on this.
In my opinion, Dustin Johnson was robbed. He was robbed by an incorrect decision by the PGA rules officials, who incorrectly assessed him a 2 stroke penalty on the 72nd hole of the tournament. The penalty raised his score, which meant that he was no longer ties for the lead, and therefore was not in the playoff.
Before I explain why I think they erred, I’d like to point out a couple of things. First, Johnson hit a terrible tee shot, way off line, for one of the most critical shots of his young career. If he had hit the ball in the fairway, none of this would have happened.
Secondly, the rules official who was widely interviewed about the decision explained his decision well and competently. He appears to be a well informed, well spoken gentleman who no doubt would have preferred the whole mess had never happened.
There was no question that Dustin grounded his club before he hit his second shot. That meant that the only question was whether he was in a bunker when he grounded the club. The official based his decision that the ball indeed was in a bunker on the rules sheet which was handed out to players, and posted in the locker room read, in pertinent part:
Notice to Competitors - Bunkers

1. All areas of the course that were designed and built as sand bunkers will be played as bunkers (hazards), whether or not they have been raked.
Johnson knew, as does every golfer with a decent amount of experience, that you cannot ground your club in a hazard. If he had known it was a hazard, he would not have grounded his club. My question is: How was he supposed to know he was in a sand bunker? It did not look like a bunker. It was not marked like a bunker. It did not appear to be designed and built as a sand bunker. There were thousands of fans standing and walking around in the area.
There was no reason whatsoever to think that this was a bunker. I see no reason whatsoever to conclude that the area where his ball lay was “designed and built” as a bunker, which is the key language here.
This fantastic young player was unfairly deprived of a chance to win in the playoff by an incorrect ruling. It is a damn shame.