Tom Watson Open To Bifurcating Rules Of Golf

From Steve Orme's report on Tom Watson, longtime traditionalist and passionate supporter of the Rules of Golf, sounds open to bifurcation after seeing how the belly putter kept his son interested in the game.

Asked if the USGA and R&A are on the right track, Watson said: "Yes, but I say that with mixed emotions.

"(A broomstick or belly putter stroke) is not a stroke of golf ... but it makes it easier to play.

"My son Michael, with a conventional putting stroke he couldn't make it from two feet half the time but he went to a belly putter and he makes everything.

"The game is fun to him now, so there lies the danger. Do we take the ability for people to have fun away?"

"Do we go to two sets of rules, where some people can use (long putters) in certain competitions but the PGA Tour maybe can't?

Update on 2012-12-04 16:55 by Geoff

**Ron Kroichick talks to Watson's pal and former USGA president Sandy Tatum, who does not agree.

“I think it’s a move in the right direction,” Tatum said. “What’s been going on is such a serious departure from the fundamental requirements of playing the game. … To watch these guys, with these paddles and other things, it kind of reminds me of the croquet stroke.

“The long putter, in my un-humble opinion, doesn’t qualify as a putter.”

Rulings Roundup, Open Championship Edition

There is an unbylined piece posted by the R&A analyzing the 339 rules incidents handled by the "international team of referees" at the 2012 Open Championship, with a numerical breakdown of the Rules situations that arose.

I'm not sure why I found this surprising considering the severity of the rough, but it did sound like a lot of unplayables:

One of the most commonly used Rules in golf is the unplayable ball Rule (Rule 28).  In total, 32 unplayable ball rulings were dealt with at the Championship, including Phil Mickelson’s drop after he found the deep rough above a bunker on the 8th hole. Click here to read more.

The weather, of course, can have a big impact on the Rules and 2012 was no exception.  Due to the unusually wet weather that Britain has experienced this summer and, in particular, following a heavy rainfall on the Thursday night of the Championship, no less than 58 casual water rulings were overseen by referees.  Of these, 37 related to casual water in a bunker where Rule 25-1b(ii) was applied. Click here to read more.

Rule Violation Files: R&A's Boys Amateur Championship

There's just so much to love in this R&A press release, starting with the special notation for the Scots in the quarters, and spiraling from there!

SCOTS PAIR REACH THE QUARTER FINALS OF THE BOYS AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

17 August 2012, Nottingham, England: Scotland’s Alasdair McDougall claimed two fine wins on his way to battling through to the quarter finals of the 86th Boys Amateur Championship at Notts (Hollinwell) Golf Club near Mansfield.

The diminutive 17 year-old international

Diminutive is so much better than the alternatives...so go on...

from Elderslie defeated leading qualifier, Romain Langasque from France, by 2 & 1 in the third round and then dispatched Italian Renato Paratore, winner of the recent European Young Masters tournament in Hungary, by one hole in an engrossing fourth round match.

McDougall, who represented Scotland in last week’s Boys’ Home Internationals at Co. Louth, will face Championship favourite, Austrian Matthias Schwab, losing finalist in this year’s Amateur Championship, in tomorrow’s first quarter final match.

The Scot will be joined in the last eight by his compatriot, Jamie Savage, who also won twice on a blustery day marred by intermittent showers. The 17 year-old from Cawder, who turns 18 next week, gave himself an early birthday present when he defeated James Rooney from West Lancs by 2 holes in the morning and then beat Liam Cox, from Burhill, by 3 & 2 in the fourth round.

Earlier in the day, Cox had been awarded his third round tie after his opponent, Adam Chapman from Windermere, was disqualified for contravening the Championship’s policy governing the use of distance measuring devices.

He contravened the championship! It sounds like he smuggled in drugs. Well, almost. And there's more...

McDougall arrived in Robin Hood country fresh from scoring 2 ½ points out of 5 for Scotland in last week’s Boys’ Home Internationals in Ireland and he was quickly in command against his impressive 17 year-old opponent from Rome.

The Scot won three out of the first four holes and was still three ahead when Paratore reduced the deficit with a birdie from 10-feet on the 414-yard par-4 10th. The Scot then lost both the 14th and the 15th to pars before sealing the match in somewhat bizarre circumstances down the last where he secured a par four after his opponent had been penalised one stroke for picking his ball up in the rough.

I'm guessing attending a rules seminar wouldn't have helped these lads much.

Rules Under Fire (Again): "We have a lot of stupid rules in golf."

Matthew Rudy on the Carl Pettersson violation Sunday at the PGA which led to a two-shot penalty. Here is the PGA of America's statement.

Pettersson was not pleased after the round:

"I double checked with the official to make sure I could brush the grass as long as I didn't put any weight on the ground with the clubhead, and he said sure," said Pettersson about his shot on the first hole. "I wish he would have mentioned the leaves, too. I was just trying to hit the ball. I didn't even think twice about it."

After getting the notification from Davis, Pettersson was visibly annoyed. "I've got to take it on the chin, obviously. I broke the rule there," said Petterson. "I don't think it effected the outcome of the shot. It's just one of those things. We have a lot of stupid rules in golf."

Rex Hoggard included this from Feherty:

Golf Channel’s David Feherty, who was the walking analyst with the group on Sunday, was more pointed in his assessment of the rule.

“Why don’t professional golfers make rules for professional golfers?” Feherty asked. “We’re the only sport that allows amateurs (to make rules). It’s not working for me if a guy is trying to make a living. A major championship may have hung in the balance.

“That (rule) is designed so an amateur doesn’t drag his club back and make a channel for themselves. What do you think would happen if a pro did that out there? I think we can account for that. How are you supposed to make a backswing? Use the club like a spear?”

Still no video of it on YouTube or PGA.com's PGA Championship site. If anyone sees an online version of the violation, please post a link.

Update on 2012-08-13 08:03 by Geoff

**Thanks to reader Jonathan for spotting Jay Busbee's post with video:

Armchair Officials: Will 13-2 Come Into Play This Weekend?

With Michael Hoey having the first mishap related to the different rules this week for the sand areas, reader Jerry wondered how many times Rule 13-2 has been or will be violated by players treating bunkers as they normally would by digging in and building a stance.

Since any sandy area is treated as through the green, doing so would be a violation as outlined in 13-2:

13-2. Improving Lie, Area of Intended Stance or Swing, or Line of Play

A player must not improve or allow to be improved:

• the position or lie of his ball,

• the area of his intended stance or swing,

• his line of play or a reasonable extension of that line beyond the hole, or

• the area in which he is to drop or place a ball, by any of the following actions:
• pressing a club on the ground,

• moving, bending or breaking anything growing or fixed (including immovable obstructions and objects defining out of bounds),

• creating or eliminating irregularities of surface,

• removing or pressing down sand, loose soil, replaced divots or other cut turf placed in position, or
• removing dew, frost or water.

“Bobby Jones used concave-faced clubs for some of his major championships. They were outlawed later."

Martin Dempster had a super write-up of the Monday R&A press conference and included this from Peter Dawson, which would be an answer to my first Open question.

Dawson was adamant that the controversy surrounding long putters hadn’t detracted from Els winning a dramatic event – he came from six shots back with nine holes to play as Scott dropped shots at each of the last four holes – to claim the Claret Jug for a second time.

“No, absolutely not,” he said. “The championship is conducted under the rules of play at the time, and it doesn’t detract in any way from the winner as long as he obeys the rules of play at the time.

“Bobby Jones used concave-faced clubs for some of his major championships. They were outlawed later. Bobby Jones’ victories are in no way demeaned as a result of that and I see this in exactly the same way.”

At Lytham, in a field of 156, Els was among 16 players wielding a belly putter while Scott was one of 27 using a long one.

“At one tournament last year, the R&A reported 21 per cent of players had long putters in their bag.”

News Of The Weird Dept: Euro Tour Caddie Caught Discarding 15th Club In Bush

An unbylined Sky Sports report on an unnamed caddie for Jose Manuel Lara attempting to conceal an extra club and getting noticed by playing partners. Lara shot 69 but was DQ'd.  The Euro Tour's John Paramor explains:

"He was seen entering the bush with the bag of clubs by his playing partners (Ireland's Damien McGrane and Swede Peter Hedblom), who thought it was a little bit suspicious.

"They went and asked the chap 'What are you doing?' and he sort of fumbled out an answer saying 'I've got this wrong - I've done something bad. I wish it hadn't happened, etc etc'.

"It was clear the club was out of the bag and in the bush at the time. He admitted it straight away and regretted his action.

"A ruling was sought over what was the penalty for carrying an extra club and he was given two shots for the first hole and two for the second."

There is video of John Paramor talking about the incident here.

Video: Mark Russell On Call-In Rulings And Other Topics

I chatted with PGA Tour VP of Rules and Competitions Mark Russell here at The Memorial and he gives a fun answer to the question of phoned-in rule violations, as well as some fresh insights into last week's Zach Johnson situation at Colonial, while revealing that Slugger White was watching the telecast and caught the violation.

A Truly Depressing Incorrect Scorecard Signing Story

Thanks to reader Robert for Rob Moseley's story on high school senior Caroline Inglis losing her bid for a fourth state golf title when she signed for an incorrect score** following her final round in the Class 5A girls championship, at a golf course actually named Trysting Tree Golf Club. Really.

Because the reported total was lower than her actual score — 68, rather than 69 — Inglis was disqualified from a tournament she was on pace to win by nine strokes over her closest competitor.

The shocking turn of events came 41 years after her father, Bill, signed for an incorrect score at the 1971 state tournament, family members said, denying the South Eugene boys a team title.

Oh it gets worse.

Caroline Inglis played throughout her senior season after learning of a leukemia diagnosis to Bill last year, and through the proceeding treatment, including a stem-cell transplant from her aunt, Jane, about four months ago that has so far proven successful.

“It definitely affected my play; my dad taught me the game, and I grew up playing with him,” Inglis said before learning of her disqualification. “So it was definitely hard to go out and play. But I worked myself through it, and he’s doing a lot better now.

“I wanted to win for him, make him proud. And I did. It feels great, and I’m so glad that he could be here to watch, and that he’s healthy.”

Inglis will be playing at University of Oregon this fall.

**Not sure why the link changed but the original story has been located and the link embedded.