Well Wasn't That A Strange Way To End A Golf Tournament...**

I'm not sure what was more bizarre about the conclusion to the final Verizon-sponsored Heritage Classic...

• That Brian Davis seemingly explained to Slugger White that he might have violated the rules because Slugger didn't see it happen, even though it was a playoff and there was nothing else to be watching

• That fans were booing the time it took to check with the replay booth whether a rule had been broken

• That CBS was showing its credits over a compelling playoff situation prior to Davis hitting his shot.
• That Davis actually violated the loose impediment rule when the item in question appeared rooted in the ground, but clearly someone thought it wasn't
• That CBS didn't have time for a quick post round interview (you go affiliates!)

Anyway, odd but as Jim Nantz noted, quite admirable of Davis to have immediately questioned what happened and to have called this on himself.

If you saw it, thoughts?

Update on 2010-04-19 07:27 by Geoff

**John Vander Borght explains what went wrong during the Heritage playoff and why it was indeed a penalty.

Slugger White explained what happened after the round and it sounds like he issued a gentle warning prior to Davis entering the hazard, which might explain why Davis called out his mistake so quickly. Davis doesn't mention that in his comments.

Well, when he hit the ball in the hazard, I cautioned him not to touch anything loose. When I went down in there, he said fine. And it's really strange, all these reeds that were loose, most of them were going this way, and this one reed was sticking out just outside his ball, I guess. And he looked and looked and looked, and when he took the club away he ticked it. And he immediately came to me -- I couldn't see it. The wind was blowing, so I couldn't see it against the sand. And he assured me that he ticked it when he took the club away. He called it on himself immediately.

The SI/golf.com Confidential team, in between debating Jim Furyk's place in golf history and what's wrong with Sergio--those hot button issues--were not very positive about CBS's coverage of the situation.

Van Sickle: TV did a lousy job of explaining the penalty. Viewers had to be confused. I was.
Herre: Faldo wouldn't shut up! You could make out the conversation Slugger White was having on his handheld — whenever Faldo wasn't talking over what was being said. Poor job by CBS.

Herre: For a journeyman who has never won on the PGA Tour, Davis was impressive. I don't think even the armchair rules officials would've picked up on his error.

Morfit: In the end it was much ado about nothing, right? Doesn't Furyk win the playoff on that hole even if Davis doesn't touch a loose impediment? Weird scene down on the beach, though. I thought I'd clicked on the Clamming Channel.

Evans: Not sure what to make of Davis not finishing the hole after all that overly officious professionalism and honesty. It was funny to see Slugger White tell Furyk that he still had to putt out after Davis shook his hand.

"That's how it started."

Thanks to reader Andrew for the new Met Golfer roundtable on rules. It seems Arnold Palmer is now getting official credit for the groove rule change.

Dick, can you take us through the process of how the 2010 condition of competition on grooves came about:

Rugge: It started with Arnold Palmer, who came here to the USGA offices in January 2001 for a meeting to talk about a lot of things regarding equipment.  He sat next to me, and near the end of our meeting, he stuck his finger in my face and kind of scolded me and said, "The biggest mistake the USGA ever made was to allow square grooves in the game."  That's how it started.

As reader Andrew noted, "I wonder what would have happened had Palmer said the biggest mistake they made was letting the ball go so far."

"It was no accident that last weekend's Masters leader board was almost exclusively filled by players either exceptionally thoughtful or prodigiously talented or both."

Besides a nice rant about the modern ball (I always enjoy those), John Huggan makes a couple of worthwhile points when considering the play of Europeans at this year's Masters.

In defense of the current band of better-than-average European players, coming up well short (so far at least) isn't all their own faults. Tiger and Phil Mickelson apart, standing out from the pack isn't easy these days. Look at both the PGA and European Tours. So far this year, only South Africans Charl Schwartzel and Ernie Els have won more than once on either. Parity is king. Of course, much of that all-too prevalent stalemate has been caused by the high level of quality control involved in the manufacture of today's clubs and balls. For one thing, bigheaded metal drivers have made mastering what should be the hardest club in the bag almost routine for virtually every professional. So separating oneself from the rest is more difficult. The deserved edge previously enjoyed by the likes of Greg Norman and Nick Price -- the best drivers of their generation -- has been diminished greatly.

And this about Augusta National's design and setup:

When those relatively unimaginative players -- their senses dulled by all of the above -- pitch up at a major championship venue like Augusta National (where short grass still prevails and many holes can be played in a variety of ways) they are suddenly faced with a test paper that is, to paraphrase the great Bobby Jones, "unfamiliar." It was no accident that last weekend's Masters leader board was almost exclusively filled by players either exceptionally thoughtful or prodigiously talented or both.

"There were rave reviews for the changes made to the famous West Course by the Ernie Els design team ahead of the BMW PGA Championship 2010"

A good time was apparently had by all at Wentworth when European TV's finest showed up to play the Ernie Els redesigned West Course.

Love the write up:

A team of broadcasters from the BBC and Sky Sports enjoyed their first sight of the modernised West Course at Wentworth Club when they faced a line-up from BMW, The European Tour and the host club.

Former Ryder Cup Captain, Sam Torrance, was joined by fellow BBC commentators Alan Hansen, Tim Henman and Sir Matthew Pinsent alongside Di Stewart, Robert Lee and Steve Beddow from Sky Sports as the team of broadcasters registered a hefty 7-2 victory.

Paul Davies of the BBC and Sky Sports’ Jason Wesley jointly accepted the plaudits from George O’Grady, Chief Executive of The European Tour after defending their trophy.

There were rave reviews for the changes made to the famous West Course by the Ernie Els design team ahead of the BMW PGA Championship 2010, with the visually stunning eighth and 18th attracting special attention.

Even better, look how well dressed they get for a shindig. Take note, writers.