Now that a major has been won by a player receiving the full benefits of a long putter, the governing bodies can no longer point to the major losing streak as evidence of the long stick's lack of influence. Now that someone has actually used one to win a major, it will only make reversing past decisions that much more difficult.
Huggan: I felt sorry for Schwartzel when he started getting stick from, of all people, those notorious fence-sitters Faldo and Oosterhuis. The problem, if there really is one, is not anything the Masters champion did, but the rule he was able to take advantage of. Being able to drop one club length away seems excessive; the nearest point of relief would seem more appropriate. Plus, I find it hard to believe that Faldo would have done anything different.
Elling: I thought the ruling was an eye-roller. How many times have we seen guys stand on their heads to get relief, then turn it into an improved lie on the fringe, putting green or fairway? I think there's a spirit of the rule here that is being bent. I am not picking on Charl, by any means. Everybody does it. It's become the culture, and watching it makes me cringe.
I believe it all starts 40 minutes into the broadcast, which re-airs at 8:30 ET, 5:30 PT, and carries on for several moments where Brendle says he's "not really entitled to relief."
"He took his stance which means you’ve addressed the ball and then the ball moved which is a penalty,” said PGA Tour rules official Jon Brendle who was involved in a lengthy conversation with Luiten adjacent Muirfield Village’s chipping green after the ruling. “He and his caddie didn’t think he’d addressed his ball, but they didn’t know the definition of the rule.”
Luiten violated Rule 18-2b and failed to add two strokes to his score on the hole. Because he had already signed his scorecard he was disqualified.
Thanks to Mike O'Malley for Tweetingthis chat between Jack Nicklaus and Mike Davis about the dilemma of sand-filled divots. Jack's not a fan, but Davis explains why the USGA can't deem them GUR.
Golfweek's roundup of Sunday's Zurich Classic finale explains what happened with Webb Simpson's violation at the 15th hole, costing him a stroke that ultimately forced a playoff loss to Bubba Watson.
Simpson made bogey on the 15th hole after calling a one-stroke penalty on himself when his ball oscillated on the green. He was leading by one stroke at the time.
“You get greens like this that are burned out, balls are going to move all over the place,” he said. “It’s unfortunate.”
Simpson made birdie on the first playoff hole, after putting his second shot on the par-5 finishing hole over the green. On the second extra hole, he couldn’t get up-and-down out of a greenside bunker and settled for par.
Afterward, however, the talk focused on the ruling on 15 green.
“You have to call it on yourself in that situation,” he said. “But it stinks that the tournament might have been decided by a rule that’s borderline a good rule. I’m a little disappointed, but I’ll learn from it and hopefully have another chance next week.”
When (on the first hole of the playoff) Simpson was took a drop from the greenside sprinkler and was allowed to PLACE his ball by hand after the first two rolled down the slope, didn't his first "place" come to rest? I thought it did when he took his hand away but just a second later he picked it up and tried once more. Again, it seemed to turn maybe a half revolution and settle but Simpson quickly picked it up again and then finally placed it in a spot to his liking.
Am I being a stickler or merely uninformed if I should maintain that Simpson picked up a ball that had legally "come to rest," was therefore IN PLAY and therefore Webb should have been penallized for THAT infraction as well?
Reader Red concurred:
After Simpson released his fingers from the ball when placing the first time, it appeared to be at rest. When he lifted it, I immediately thought, "Uh oh." I had a strong feeling that a couple of tour officials became instantly sick to their stomachs But when nothing came of it, I mentally let it go and assumed it MUST have moved..
If a ball when placed fails to come to rest on the spot on which it was placed, there is no penalty and the ball must be replaced. If it still fails to come to rest on that spot:
(i) except in a hazard, it must be placed at the nearest spot where it can be placed at rest that is not nearer the hole and not in a hazard; (ii) in a hazard, it must be placed in the hazard at the nearest spot where it can be placed at rest that is not nearer the hole.
If a ball when placed comes to rest on the spot on which it is placed, and it subsequently moves, there is no penalty and the ball must be played as it lies, unless the provisions of any other Rule apply.
The tape would seem to indicate the ball was at rest and perhaps because of nerves or because he thought it was moving, Simpson grabbed it again and tried to place it. I'll leave it to you rules gurus to hash this one out. It doesn't impact the event either way, but it would be good to know!
That's Jack Nicklaus speaking to Steve Elling, not long after the USGA and R&A handed down their modification to the Decisions on the morning of 2011's first major and after years of bickering, opening up the possibility that there will be fewer scorecard DQ's after phoned-in violations are discovered.
Where to start? Oh let's just go to the Immediate Release, dumped in mind-boggling fashionon the morning of the first round of a major. Besides the obvious silliness of burying this news when all eyes are on golf, the governing bodies decide to share this when probably not a single player will want, no should they, read about the announced decision on scorecard DQ's for blissful ignorance...as opposed to sheer ignorance. (There is no link yet at USGA.org.)
Van Sickle: This has been a year of weird rules violations. How do you feel about TV viewers reporting potential mistakes?
Henry: I'm not a proponent of fans calling in. Unlike other sports, we don't have an official watching every shot by every player. And not every shot is seen on TV, so some players are under more scrutiny than others. That isn't equal. We need to come up with a solution where a guy isn't disqualified for something he did wrong two days earlier.
Crane: Right. When a guy commits a penalty and doesn't know it, it should be a two-shot penalty, not a disqualification for signing a wrong score. All it's going to take is to DQ a leader everybody wants to see win.
Purdy: I wouldn't mind if the Tour had an 800 number. I wish they'd had that for the Heritage Classic, where Stewart Cink beat me after he moved sand from behind his ball. You can't do that except on a green. So many people called in, the officials in the rules trailer unplugged the phone. They ignored it.
Dave Shedloski checks in with Mike Davis on the progress of the scorecard-DQ rule and as you might imagine, it's getting more complicated the more scenarios they consider.
Martin Blake on Karie Webb's spat with officials Down Under over marking her ball with a tee, something common on the LPGA Tour (apparently) but unbeknownst to Golf Australia's officials who bickered with Webb.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning Drive, is co-host of The Ringer's ShackHouse is the author of eleven books.
