DQed

Over the last few months there has been a rash of high-profile penalties called on players by television viewers, some of which have led to disqualifications because the players inadvertently signed incorrect scorecards before learning of the rules infractions. This past week Camilo Villegas on the PGA Tour and Padraig Harrington on the European Tour were both disqualified for rules violations that were reported after they signed their scorecards. Villegas tapped down a divot as his ball was rolling back down a slope toward the divot. Harrington replaced his ball on the green and the the ball rotated forward two dimples. Both players were gentlemen about the disqualifications, but it is getting to be ridiculous.

Tim Finchem, PGA Tour Commissioner, intends to ask the USGA to review the Rules of Golf, but he is not advocating that the penalty related to signing an incorrect card be changed.
He said he wants a “full and thorough review” of the rule, so golf officials can ask if there is a better way to penalize players. Interestingly, Finchem did acknowledge that the professional tours have a right to set their own rules for a tournament, but he would rather retain the USGA as the rule-making body.

One suggestion is to assess the two-stroke penalty even after the card has been signed, provided the player was not aware he had broken a rule, but not disqualify him. This creates some problems if it affects the cut line or the winner of the tournament, in addition to making a subjective determination as to whether the golfer knew or should have known that he violated a Rule of Golf, but it is clearly better than the present Rule. My suggestion is to retain the honor system among the players and not permit television viewers to call in rules infractions. If a golfer blatantly violates the Rules of Golf and does not report himself or herself or has a number of unreported, unknowing violations, suspend the golfer. If the unreported violations continue, then ban the golfer from the tour for a number of years or for life, after giving the golfer all of the due process protections that are appropriate before denying a person his or her livelihood.

The PGA Finally Got it Right!

They say that bad things come in threes. The last couple of weeks the PGA Tour, the USGA and the LPGA had three rules violations that were public relations nightmares. First, Dustin Johnson grounded his club in a fairway bunker (and I use that term very loosely) incurring a two stroke penalty on the 18th hole in the last round of the PGA Championship. See link at 2:35 and 3:10. He missed the playoff by two strokes and came within inches of making a putt on the 18th hole that would have given him the outright victory, but for the two stroke penalty. It could have been worse for the PGA and USGA if Dustin made the putt on the 18th hole and thought he won the PGA Championship only to then be told that he incurred a two-stroke penalty for grounding his club in a bunker. There is plenty of blame to go around on this fiasco. The players and caddies were repeatedly warned that all sand areas were considered bunkers and not waste areas, but the USGA allowed spectators to trample and walk in the so-called bunkers. When you watch the video, tell me whether the area looks like a "prepared area of ground, often a hollow, from which turf or soil has been removed and replaced with sand or the like," which is the definition of a "bunker" in the Rules of Golf. As an aside, how crazy are those spectators in the line of fire. Johnson just hit his drive about 100 yards off-line and people are lined up to his left giving him about 5 yards of space to blast a shot off of the sand. You must be out of your mind!

Then, Julie Inkster, a member of the LPGA Hall of Fame, was disqualified for taking a practice swing with a weighted doughnut on her club during a 30-minute wait between the 9th and 10th holes at the LPGA Safeway Classic. Inkster had just been interviewed by the Golf Channel and a television viewer noticed the infraction and contacted tournament officials. Decision 14-3/10 interpreting Rule 14-3 prohibits a player from using any artificial device, such as a weighted head cover or club with a weighted "doughnut" on it for any stroke or practice swing during a competitive round. Violation of the Rule creates an automatic disqualification and according to the LPGA it had no wiggle room as to enforcement of the Rule. In fact, the LPGA tournament officials checked with the USGA (the last bastion of reasonableness and common sense) before issuing the disqualification. Of course, Inkster could have taken two or three clubs out of her bag and swung them together with the same effect and not been disqualified. The "Rule of Reason" from English common law seems to have evaded the USGA (and the venerable R&A).

Finally, Jim Furyk, No. 3 in the FedEx points standings last week, was disqualified from The Barclays, the first event of the PGA Tour Playoffs for the FedEx Cup, before it even began. Furyk overslept and missed his tee time for the Pro-Am on the Wednesday before the tournament. Under PGA Rules, this automatically disqualifies the player from the golf tournament. The reason for the rule is clear. The PGA Tour relies upon its sponsors and the Pro-Am is very important to the sponsors. Given a choice, many of the golfers would rather not participate in Pro-Am tournaments so it is important that the penalty for non-participation be severe. However, this is a clear case of "cutting off your nose to spite your face." First of all, Jim Furyk has a reputation for being one of the best ambassadors of the game and one of the professionals that does not shirk his responsibilities to the fans and sponsors. Second, by disqualifying Furyk, the PGA compounded the sponsor problem by taking one of the best golfers and fan favorites out of the competition. To his credit, Tim Finchem, the PGA Tour Commissioner, recognized the irony of the rule and immediately implemented an interim rule for the remainder of the season so that a golfer that is late for a Pro-Am will be disciplined for "conduct detrimental to the game" but unless he misses the entire round, he will not be disqualified from the tournament. Finchem asked the Players Advisory Council and PGA Tour Policy Board to evaluate the pro-am policy for the following PGA season. Of course, none of this helps Jim Furyk and hopefully he will not lose the FEDEX Cup by a few points that he could have won by playing the Barclays, but the Commissioner's proactive response is a pleasant surprise. At least Finchem has not completely drank his USGA/R&A Kool Aid.

The Groove Controversy - Case Closed

On February 4, I posted "I Love my Ping Eye 2 Clubs", which was read and quoted world-wide. As I am sure you recall (and if not you can link above), in that post I implored John Solheim to magnanimously agree to waive the "forever legal" provisions of the settlement agreement for professional tournaments, but continue to apply the original settlement agreement to those amateurs that continue to use their beloved Ping Eye 2 clubs. John must be reading my blog!

On March 8, 2010, Ping Chairman and CEO John Solheim announced that Ping will waive its rights that prevent the PGA Tour from prohibiting the use of pre-April 1990 Ping Eye 2 irons and wedges that do not meet the 2010 Condition of Competition from being played at PGA Tour events, including the Champions Tour and Nationwide Tour, effective March 29, 2010. The PGA Tour will then adopt a Condition of the Competition that does not provide an exception for the pre-April 1990 Ping Eye 2 irons. However, the agreement also ensures that amateurs will continue to be able to play their pre-April 1990 Ping Eye 2 irons at all amateur events played under the USGA Rules of Golf.

Although Solheim could not resist the "I told you so" comment, PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem expressed his undying gratitude to Ping and there were handshakes all around. You never know what deals were made behind closed doors, but it is clear that Solheim wanted more input into future equipment rulemaking. Simultaneously with this settlement, the USGA announced that it intends to hold a forum with all stakeholders to review its rulemaking process. Both Finchem and Solheim stated in their press conference that they will actively participate in the process.