Wow: Blayne Barber DQ's Self Out Of Q-School Six Days Later
Sean Martin with the amazing story of Blayne Barber making it through the first stage at Callaway Gardens with a one-shot penalty that should have been two, and calling the PGA Tour six days later.
The call resulted in six players advancing to the second stage who otherwise were out.
Barber played the final two rounds because his caddie was certain the leaf hadn’t moved. “I continued to pray about it and think about it, and I just did not have any peace about it,” Barber said. “I knew I needed to do the right thing. I knew it was going to be disqualification.”
Barber called the PGA Tour on Nov. 2, six days after the tournament ended, to report that he had signed an incorrect scorecard. His disqualification moved the six players who had tied for 19th into a tie for 18th. The top 18 and ties at Callaway Gardens were slated to advance to Q-School's second stage.
“I just feel peace about it,” Barber said. “Doing the right thing and doing what I know is right in my heart and in my conscience is more important than short-term success.”
Monday, November 5, 2012 at 02:49 PM
Reader Comments (31)
I applaud him for allegedly following the rules, since he was not sure.
However this is flawed rule, another case of a simple rule being lawyered up.
We look at the definition of a stroke, and yet people are punished for touching a leaf on the backswing---AND HOW CAN A STROKE OCCUR WITHOUT A BACKSWING?
Not everyone who ''thinks'' they ''may have'' caused a rules infraction are rewarded with wonderful victories in future days. I am not advocating cheating, but if someone doesn't know one way or the other, then to err against oneself is just dumb.
I'm glad he ultimately fessed up, but...
...he exercised his discretion during the course of play when he decided to over-rule the interpretation by his brother (that the leaf did not move) and went ahead and penalized himself *1 shot*.
Later that night when he found out it should have been *2 shots* there was no discretion to be exercised, nothing to be prayed over -- this is an automatic DQ for signing an incorrect card. Rationalizing it with "you know bro was prob right, leaf prob didn't move", doesn't change the fact that it's *2 shots*, and he knew then that he needed to let the Tour know -- but he didn't. There was probably some inadvertant peer pressure involved (meaning buddies said "hell, don't sweat it, leaf didn't move") but that is no excuse.
So, the fact that he kept on playing with full knowledge of this information sure makes it look like he knowingly, well, you know....
As BetterThanMost said, once it's in the books, it's in the books, right? Did the PGA Tour make a special ruling and set that precedent aside because it determined the guy kept playing even after he knew he should have been DQ'd?
Looks to me like he was praying that nobody else would ever find out...
What am I missing?
Thank you. I would add the penalty if I were certain- doggone, it's a rule....I guess reading with sweat in my eyes and no reading glasses warped my reading skill...... I hate that.
All the more reason for him to be accoladed (sp) for his honesty, but what about the ''when it's over, it's over''aspect? Agains, I'm sorry for my laziness tonite, but doesn't the score stand once the tournament had ended.
Thanks again.
I am, uh, ''DQ''ing myself....and a chocolate malt sounds real good.
A gentleman gawfer (and all around good human) would have been moved to do the right thing simply by his ethics...not waiting for 'the one that they always refer to' (lord and savior jc, the one with the the pretty peach skin, and the long auburn locks, and the wispy mustache and beard, you know the guy, er, G, who helps me out when I holler).
That's right, me, not you, even though you might summon Him with as much zealousness, er, fervor, er, frequency, er, humility as me, you know, the real self righteous guy who let's everybody know how right my 'truth' is by telling you that without him I wouldn't have won this tourney with my anchored belly putter while my wife and I smugly snicker at my competitor choke it away down the stretch while we relax in the blue blooded comfort of the clubhouse (that's right I'm channeling Webb here).
How come old JC doesn't let Webb know that anchoring is cheating? It must not be cheating. Ooh, Webb, you have a rock solid angle for your anchoring ban lawsuit...JC says that anchoring is a legitimate stroke...and you can't argue with that...so he's got that going for him.
Shame he needed to call in an outside agency in the first place to take the right decision . Whatever happend to the good old-fashioned self-disciplines of integrity and honesty?
Strange set of circumstances. Up to the point he fessed up, it sounded like he kind of made a deal with himself but ultimately couldn't follow-through longterm. In taking a penalty, he effectively accepted he'd broken the rule but perhaps on learning he hadn't taken a big enough penalty, considered a one point penalty sufficient punishment, taking into account his caddie was certain he hadn't moved the leaf?
It's a theory!
I agree with the others that once the competition is closed, that's it. Perhaps a qualifying section is considered an integral part of the overall event and this is why he could be disqualified?
Take a look at Rule 34-1b(iii).
I too read it, and was confused
Barber is informed *1 shot* is not enought, now has 2 choices:
1. Do nothing, say nothing, hope nobody notices.
2. Go directly to the rules official the next morning and reveal the situation.
He chose #1. Explain to me how that's not cheating.
How about this? Thumper's guy in the sky causes leaf to move during backswing so that 6 deserving(?) fellows could still have a shot going forward.
They also had one of the 6 who got ''reinstated'' and he had found out last Friday from a PGA call, but did not know what/who had been DQed. He felt no animosity to Blayne.
He made a terrible mistake, and at least he owned up to it. But boiled down, what he did is really no different than what Vijay is accused of having done way back when. Unfortunately...
Wake up people! "I don't believe in magic, life is automatic" Noel Gallagher oasis