12 Comments

1. 

   Paul

   Apr 16, 2017 at 1:30 am

   I want to first take this subject in a slightly different direction. First, let us get over the myth that you can actually replace a ball exactly in the place were you marked it. A player can probably eyeball it to get within a couple of millimeters, but it is not going to be in the same place if for no reason than the player changes the resting location by picking up the ball in the first place. Second, this is complicated by the use of round markers. I have my doubts that the makers of the rules would have considered Lexi’s “misplacement” of the ball a rules infraction. The movement was around the 180 degrees facing towards the hole placement. So a golfer has to establish a line with no fewer than three points – the ball, the marker, and the hole through what may be a sloping green – to somewhat accurately replace the ball from a standing position that will not in itself be terribly accurate. Those round objects lie! Without a marker with a definitive line and arrow to establish the “true direction” and point where the ball should be replaced, I guarantee this happens all of the time and has happened among the best players of the ages on occasion by accident. Third, unless we are allowed to review camera coverage of every player in the field equally, this is going to clearly impact the leaders and the marquee players disproportionately because there will be more opportunities for people with nothing better to do to “officiate” inadvertent “letter of rules” infractions which have no actual bearing on the outcome of play and probably go well beyond what the actual makers of the rules intended.

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2. 

   RG

   Apr 9, 2017 at 11:02 am

   Just got done watching the Sports Reporters on ESPN lambaste this ruling, and the bodies that support it. “when is golf going to understand the difference between the letter of the law and the spirit of he law?’ said one of the commentators. They went on to make fun of signing a scorecard when everybody already knows what a golfer has shot.
   The days of the rise of E sports is upon us. continuing to to be ridiculous in ones approach and ones belief in archaic rule structures is only hurting the game. If you continue to handout $100,000 dollar fines for jay walking you are only driving new players from the game. Think about what you are saying and expressing when you issue rulings in this manner and in this extreme.

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3. 

   Sandy Bunker

   Apr 8, 2017 at 4:56 am

   Cheating speaks volumes about a Professional Golfer………….

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4. 

   Dave R

   Apr 7, 2017 at 3:32 pm

   Yes well it’s called cheating sorry but that’s the fact.

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5. 

   mike

   Apr 6, 2017 at 9:12 am

   I don’t get it. Yes it’s not nice to find out about the penalty the next day. But it would not have been an issue if Lexi had replaced the ball correctly. The European tour has banned a player for this in the past. She may not have intended to do it, but she did do it. The rule of golf are there to protect the field.
   https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2011/jan/18/elliot-saltman-three-month-golf-ban

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6. 

   Blingy

   Apr 6, 2017 at 1:24 am

   Spectators and others not involved in the event as a player or official should not have their comments taken into consideration for deciding the outcome of an event. Once the player, the marker and the officials have accepted a card that sould be the end of the scoring. The on course and internet commentators can discuss whatever they like but it should have no bearing on the result.

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   • 

     S Hitter

     Apr 6, 2017 at 3:42 am

     As an honourable, professional golfer, even if the scorecard would be accepted on the spot, if you saw the video after the fact, and it is irrefutable video evidence that will live on forever in our web for all time, you would die just thinking that you cheated, even if not intentionally, that you did not pay attention to the letter of the rules, that you did make a total blunder for all the world to see for ever and ever, you would never live it down and would probably concede the trophy to the 2nd placed player to save face. If you are an honourable, self-respecting player, that is. Such is golf, as it should be, if you respect the game and yourself, and the rules, and officials, and your comrades and fellow competitors and families and friends and the media. Of course, you would put the spot on the 2nd placed player, and she would have a hard time accepting it, so there will have to have been a caucus as to how the situation would be handled, such is the game of golf.

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8. 

   D

   Apr 5, 2017 at 10:19 pm

   Deflategate! The golf ball moved because it was deflated!

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9. 

   Chuck

   Apr 5, 2017 at 4:35 pm

   About the supposed “delay.” You don’t know who made the report, how it was discovered and exactly how it was reported.

   Here are some totally reasonable hypotheticals that would explain.

   Scenario One: A guy who is a local or state rules official is watching the tournament and sees the infraction. He is convinced there is a need to report it, but has no idea who to call or write. He calls his state golf association, and asks who knows somebody at the LPGA. It’s Saturday afternoon. They promise to relay a message. Unaware of any urgency, somebody gets back to somebody, messages get relayed and finally on Sunday an email address is relayed to the person who needs it.

   Scenario Two: A guy who is not any sort of Rules official sees what he thinks is suspicious on television. Has no idea what to do. Has dinner on Saturday night at his club, with the club pro and the tournament committee chairman, and mentions the violation. They talk it over; sounds interesting. Nobody has a recording of the event. They agree to talk to the lady assistant pro the next day; she DVR’s all of the LPGA events for swing ideas and teaching. They look at her recording. And then they call the LPGA, and try to get the right email address.

   Et cetera, et cetera. See how the possibilities are endless? Nothing but earnest intentions. Presume bad intentions if you want; I don’t really care. But just remember that they don’t have a crawl-graphic at the bottom of the screen on every golf telecast, giving people the Tour hotline number and email address, in case you see a Rules violation. People have to work at it. Even when an ultimate Rules insider like David Eger saw a violation on a Masters telecast, he had to pull strings, to get a telephone message to Fred Ridley. Tiger was so lucky that they did that.

   As a thought experiment, just consider what you’d do to try to report a rules violation. You can get a phone number for the LPGA offices in Daytona Beach; but I haven’t tried calling them on a Saturday evening, or a Sunday morning. I’ll bet you can’t reach anybody personally. None of their tournament officials offer any contact info on their website.

   I don’t presume to answer all of the “delay” questions. But I don’t think that anybody — at least not based on the info we have — can claim that there is anything wrong or unreasonable about any “delay” in this case.

   It’s unfortunate; but as the first commenter rightly noted, very simply. She breached the Rule.

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10. 

    Bert

    Apr 5, 2017 at 3:19 pm

    No, she violated the Rules of Golf.

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    • 

      setter02

      Apr 6, 2017 at 7:22 am

      They pretty well all do with lift, clean and cheat. Laughable to see how far the ball gets moved at times.

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