When's A Whiff A Whiff?

Check out the YouTube video while you can because I'm sure the men with the little red phones in Ponte Vedra are working to get it taken down.

Ryan Ballengee explains what happened Saturday with Kevin Na in Las Vegas:

On the 15th tee Saturday at TPC Summerlin, Kevin Na was in the middle of his downswing when he decided not to hit the golf ball. He pulled up his swing and finished it by missing over the top of the ball. It seemed Na had whiffed but he didn’t, according to PGA Tour officials.

Na told officials and reporters he felt his weight transfer was amiss and would lead to a hooked tee shot, so he missed.

“I’ll take it back; it feels decent, and my transition is what I’m always working on,” Na said. “It’s always my bad habit is I get quick. And on the way down my transition doesn’t feel right, and I try to stop, and obviously it’s impossible for me to stop. The only way for me to stop is I have to come up and go over the ball.”

I think I'll remember this next time I whiff one! Thanks Kevin!

I believe Woodward and Bernstein would call this a non-whiff whiff.

ZZZZZ...The John Daly Meltdown Files, Vienna Edition

From Sportscenter:

The Best Reminder Of Why Long Putter Anchoring Is A Farce

Bob Carney posts some recent GolfDigest.com/Golf World letters and shares this from Hank Schlautmann of Port Huron, Michigan.

Years ago Craig Stadler lost $33,333.33 for placing a towel under his knees. I think they called it a stance improvement. Belly-putter users are cheaters as far as I'm concerned. That isn't golf. It should be called by it's real name (BELLY GOLF).

The Schwartzel Ruling, Re-evaluated

For Golf World Monday, I looked into Friday's Schwartzel ruling and talked to a few people, including someone on the ground when it happened. While I still believe official Jon Brendle's actions were sound and his initial reluctance to grant relief was speaks to the legitimacy of Schwartzel's claimed clubhead path, I've come to a different conclusion about this and other sprinkler head relief situations.

Check it out. It's only 220 words long. (Link works for non-subscribers too.)

Interesting aftermath photo courtesy of Allan Henry at GolfChronicles.

Update on 2011-06-06 16:51 by Geoff

**Elling and Huggan in the Pond Scrum:

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.

“He and his caddie didn’t think he’d addressed his ball, but they didn’t know the definition of the rule.”

Rex Hoggard gives us a little more detail on the Joost Luiten DQ:

"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.

Tangled Webb During Sudden Death Playoff?

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.”

But it's what went on at #18 that caught the eye of several readers here and elsewhere online. Reader BenSeattle wrote:

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..

According to the Rule-20...

d. Ball Fails To Come To Rest on Spot

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!