Lewis's 2-Shot Penalty: Not Much Grey Area Here

Randall Mell reports on Stacy Lewis' potentially expensive 2-stroke penalty Saturday at the RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup, leaving her four back of Ai Miyazato.

The clear violation of Rule 13-4 was the product of caddie Travis Wilson testing a bunker surface.

She was penalized when rules officials determined in a video review that Travis Wilson, Lewis’ caddie, tested the surface of a hazard with his right foot when he walked into a bunker off the fairway on the 16th hole.

Television viewers contacted both Golf Channel and LPGA officials questioning whether there was a violation. That led to LPGA rules officials taking Lewis and Wilson to review the video after the round.

Beth Ann Baldry says Lewis took the mistake in stride, even as it makes her task of reaching the No. 1 spot in the world a lot tougher Sunday.

“More than anything I just feel bad for him because he feels awful,” Lewis said. “But he's the best caddie out here, so we'll be fine. We still have a chance to win tomorrow.”

You can see the violation at the 10:40 mark of the Golf Central highlight package. It's pretty clear from the conversation overheard that Lewis was unsure how the sand would play and is just as much at fault as her caddie.

Also of interest is the analysis from Judy Rankin, Jerry Foltz and Terry Gannon at the 12:00 minute mark or so.

Lewis was a class act all the way in her post round interview:

If it's any consolation, golfers still probably know their rules better than tennis' top players, as evidenced by this Douglas Robson story sent in by reader Matt.