"It's not the end of the world. It will be fine. It is fine."

Let's hope when tournament sponsors pondering their next exemption decision look at John Daly's name and take a pass in favor of J.P. Hayes. That's assuming they have seen Gary D’Amato's story on the journeyman's incredible show of integrity at Q-school second stage. (Thanks to readers Gene and Lee for the heads up.)

After the second round, as Hayes relaxed in his hotel room, it suddenly occurred to him that the wrong ball he had played in the first round might not have been on the USGA's approved list.

"It was a Titleist prototype, and somehow it had gotten into my bag," he said. "It had been four weeks since Titleist gave me some prototype balls and I tested them. I have no idea how or why it was still in there."

He could have said nothing and kept playing. But he couldn't have lived with himself knowing he had possibly broken the rules.

"I called an official in Houston that night and said, 'I think I may have a problem,' " Hayes said. "He said they'd call Titleist the next day. I pretty much knew at that point I was going to be disqualified."

Hayes refused to blame his caddie.

"He kind of wanted to take some of the blame, but he knows I'm anal about my equipment," he said. "I go through my bag every night. I want to know what's in there. It's almost therapeutic for me."

This time, Hayes missed one non-conforming ball. The prototype should have been easy to spot because while it bore the Titleist brand name, there was no label on the "seam" to identify the model.

Hayes said if he'd teed up the ball on a par-4 or par-5, he would have immediately known he had the wrong ball because he uses the label as an alignment aide with his driver. It's a habit he picked up several years ago, when it was rumored Titleist balls flew a few more yards when struck on the label.

"But it was a par-3 and I don't use the label to line up on par-3s," he said. "It was my mistake. I had no choice but to take my medicine."

Comments

[Taylor]

Now that's solid gold integrity!

[Andy Brown]

It’s incredible how this game continues to churn out these moments which make you feel so proud to be associated with the sport. Takes you back to the Bobby Jones days and his famous line etched in memory “ You might as well blame a man for not robbing a bank”. The PGA Tour instituted the sportsmanship award in order to recognize the incredible feat of Jones’ to call that two stroke penalty on himself when no one else had seen the ball move and it was only Jones who claimed that the ball moved.

I think it would not be a bad idea to consider J.P. Hayes for that Sportsmanship award because this is truly special. Having said that I am not surprised with the fact tat he broke the rule because it seems like an honest mistake and anyone could have done that but the fact that he chose to admit it after a good amount of time had passed after he finished his round. It is easy to do it in the moment but when a career is at stake, to think about doing such a thing is quite a repectable feat.

Well done Mr Hayes!

Andy
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