Vote: Do You Feel Dustin Johnson Caused His Ball To Move?

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The tape:

 

 

The simple poll question that we will discuss on Morning Drive at 8:10 am ET:

DDo you feel Dustin Johnson caused his ball to move?
 
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Poll And Question: "Is the time right for non-conforming clubs?"

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That's the question Mike Stachura refreshingly attacks for GolfDigest.com in the wake of 2016's PGA Show.

After exploring the efforts in the Asian market to introduce such clubs, Stachura writes:

But no major U.S. company is looking at the nonconforming market and getting intrigued. Several major manufacturers contacted by Golf Digest said they would not be pursuing nonconforming equipment; others had no specific comment on the issue. Typical was this response from Callaway: “We think there is a lot of runway to give distance and performance while still playing by the rules.”

Even proudly renegade upstart Parsons Xtreme Golf defended golf’s rules. Said PXG and GoDaddy.com founder Bob Parson, “PXG believes that the USGA upholds the integrity of the game. As such, PXG’s clubs comply with all USGA regulations and we have no intention of introducing nonconforming equipment.”

The pressures of Wall Street and the weakening Rules of Golf will conspire at some point to bifurcate the game. Throw in the difficulty of finding suitable venues for the pro game played with ever-improving equipment and the hand of a major governing body will be forced to act in the form of a tournament ball. If it's not that, then the pressure will come from Wall Street for annual innovation and growth, and at some point that will mean non-conforming clubs.

So with those inevitabilities in mind and after reading Stachura's piece, I'd ask you to vote...

Is it time for bifurcation?
 
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Dottie: Players Lined Up By Caddies Needs To End

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After the USGA and R&A announced their latest updates to the Rules of Golf, the question of what rule needs changing most seems to come up. Like a stooge, I always nominate something than the most obvious: caddies lining up players.

As Dottie Pepper presented the case in this ESPN.com column on a variety of year-end rules-related issues that will not be getting framed in Far Hills, not only is it a threat to the image of the LPGA Tour, but a far greater violation of the spirit of the rules than other changes made for 2016.

Lining up the shot is the player's responsibility. Period. It is part of being a golfer, part of playing the game. You can have all the help you want on the practice range, but get at it and get at it by yourself on the course. It not only looks bad to the television viewer, but also gives the impression that the player isn't in command of his or her game.

We Thought Only Media Shuttles Took Forever: LPGA Player Edition

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It wouldn't be a golf tournament if the media shuttles didn't take some circuitous routes to the course, though even those entertaining debacles rarely happen now that tournaments have turned to quality outfits like Country Club Services.

So it's a bit surprising to see LPGA players not only taking a tournament shuttle to the course, but experiencing a total nightmare. That's what happened Saturday in the Lorena Ochoa Invitational, where the tour relied on the Decisions of the rules to push back tee times for four players whose 15-20 minute journey took over two hours due to road issues and Mexico City's infamous traffic.
Randall Mell reports on the remedy for this bizarro situation:

With four players who were in contention stuck in a shuttle bus that took more than two hours to make the usual 15- to 20-minute commute from the tournament hotel to the golf course, the LPGA pushed back the day’s final three times. By doing so, Suzann Pettersen, Angela Stanford, Minjee Lee and Carlota Ciganda were assured that they would be spared disqualifications for missing tee times.

The LPGA cited Decision 6-3a/1.5 in pushing back tee times, determining there were “exceptional circumstances beyond the players’ control.”

Ben Crane Cites Scripture, Writings Of Davis Love In Self-DQ

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If only the feelings of guilt weighing on Ben Crane were as strong when self-reflecting on his daily golf course rudeness, better known as his glacial pace of play!

At least in disqualifying himself over a hazard grounding only he witnessed, Crane has indicated he is capable of feeling guilty. Just not about being the least considerate golfer on the PGA Tour.

It's a start!

Regarding his Shriners Hospital Open DQ, Crane cites the biblical interpretations of Davis Love on playersdevotional.com.

 The writings of Captain Love, should Ben Crane ever decide to take them to heart in the slow play department.

Ko Struggles To 75 After Taking Controversial Unplayable

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Lydia Ko is donating her earnings in this week's Volunteers of America North Texas Shootout to earthquake relief for Nepal, so her opening 75 no doubt upset someone not used to posting big scores.

And the round came with a controversial drop, as Randall Mell explains.

Ko was 2 under par in her round when she hit her approach shot at the 14th hole long and left. She tried to hit a lob over a tree blocking her route to the green, but her ball caught up in a branch and never came down.

With Hamilton in the tree, Ko asked why they had to free the ball if they were going to take an unplayable.

“We have to identify it,” Hamilton told her.

Shortly after, LPGA rules official Brad Alexander arrived. He told Ko she could take an unplayable lie based on witness accounts of the ball going into the tree. She took a penalty stroke and a drop near the tree. If the ball had been declared lost, Ko would have been required to take a penalty and also return to where she struck the last shot. She would have had to drop and play from there.

Caddie Jason Hamilton's climbing effort, while noble, didn't quiet some grumbling on social media about the attempts to shake the ball loose and the unplayable lie verdict.

The LPGA rules staff held firm to their conclusion according to a statement to GolfChannel.com.

The officials involved in the ruling with Lydia Ko today on the 14th hole referenced Decision 27/12 to support their ruling. Due to the fact that it was roughly a 30-yard shot, the spectators were able to see Lydia’s ball from start to finish and therefore provided indisputable evidence that the ball in the tree was indeed Lydia’s ball. Therefore the ball did not need to be identified as it was never lost. The USGA confirmed that in a situation where observers indisputably saw the player’s ball in motion come to rest in a specific location at which the ball remains visible, the ball has been identified as the player’s ball. Thus, since the ball in the tree was deemed as Lydia's ball, she was then able to proceed under Rule 28 – Ball Unplayable.

Here is the entire sequence: