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LPGA Tour Lexi Thompson Ruling!


ole gray

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It puts the officials in an awkward spot. Once it is brought to their attention, they need to do something about it. I agree with the two stroke penalty for incorrectly replacing the ball but the additional two strokes for marking the wrong score is brutal. They need to change this. Why is this the only sport where this happens? And what number do you call? 1-800-GOLFRAT? If the on course officials don't catch it, it's done. Move on. In other sports the officials can't even use video unless there is a coach's challenge of some sort.

 

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In all fairness golf is not officiated like other sports.  It's an advantage to players in other sports if they break a rule and get away with it.  Some even try pushing the limits of the officiating to gain that advantage.  I was a state rated volleyball referee, and I have seen it, although volleyball is actually one of the cleanest sports rules-wise.  If you are referring to football, the offending person/team does not lose points because of a penalty.  They lose field position, but can recover.  It doesn't work that way in golf.  A two-stroke penalty is devastating; a four-stroke penalty is a killer, especially when ruled halfway through the final round.

 

Clearly, the ball was moved as viewed by the closeup shot.  But it was also not clearly evident to her playing partner, official, or gallery such that the penalty could be imposed on the spot.  Ten years ago, there would not have been any penalty because camera technology at tournaments wasn't good enough to see it.  The penalty for playing the ball from the incorrect position should be made the day of the tournament.  I can also understand assessing it the next day, but that should be done before play begins for the next round.  The penalty affects not only Lexi, but also the play of others in the field.  The players need to know the status of the field.

 

For me the issue is that based on the play of the round at the time as attested by players and officials, the scorecard was correct.  There should be no penalty imposed 24 hours later for signing an incorrect scorecard.  

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Did you folks just see the 4 stroke penalty levied on Lexi Thompson for a illegally marked ball infraction!?

I have always been okay with television viewers calling in proposed penalties. That shouldn't be an issue. However; the problem is that the penalty was assessed after the next round began. If a non-disqualification penalty is assessed the USGA should have a rule that it must be assessed before start of play for the next round for all competitors. As soon as the first tee ball was hit on Sunday, the officials should have no authority to assess a penalty on Lexi Thompson. Had they told her on Saturday night or even early AM Sunday I would have been okay with it. This is just another case of the PGA/LPGA not doing right by it's players.

 

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I gotta ask 'cause I don't know...

1. Does every group in every pro tourney on every weekend have a qualifed rules official walking with them?

 

2. If not .. why not???

 

3. If so .. why doesn't that person have the final say in all rules matters* either brought to their attention by a playing competitor - while on the course and during the time of play of the "stipulated round" - or a matter that the official calls out themselves?

 

*Subject, I guess, to a review by the tourney's Rules Committee (only), with input from the player and their playing partner(s).

 

Gotta admit, being relatively new to golf I just don't "get it"....

 

As others have said many times, with so much on the line .. and so much publicity .. calls and decisions should be made then and there on the field. And as someone has said, If a player is not conducting themselves with integrity, the playing partner(s) and the rules official should be keeping an eye on them....

 

And the pro tours should be stepping up the self-policing .. hand out fines and suspensions for infractions (just like other pro .. televised .. sports).

 

 

When I was a kid I used to race one-design sailboats competitively. The racing rules are pretty complex, always evolving, and we were made to study them so we knew them well.

 

They are designed with similar goals as most sports .. eg. things like to prevent one competitor from gaining an unfair advantage over the field, or to prevent one competitor from putting another at a disadvantage and also to avoid collisions between boats.

 

But something important that was a part of the rules - written into the 'code of conduct', if you will - is that if a competitor (and only a competitor in the field) wants to make a protest against another they can only do so by informing the Race Committee *immediately* upon finishing the race. Then at the end of the day there is a meeting with the Race Committee, who often but not always doubles as the Rules Committee, the protestor and the one being protested.

 

The rule claimed to have been broken is reviewed, then the protestor makes their case .. often with visual aids to diagram the positions of boats and course marks .. and the accused can make their defense and then the Committee renders a decision. A loss to the accused is typically a DQ; a loss to the accuser means no change in the race results.

 

Pretty straightforward and a time-tested process, accepted by all competitors.

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Yes .. didn't you catch this earlier post .. \/ this is "Howard" \/ .....

 

Love this....courtesy of DivotDiggersGolf.

I can understand the 2 stroke penalty, but the 4 strokes was ridiculous.

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Once you go down that route, then where do you stop?

I know I certainly wouldn't want to be the player who was remembered for winning a tournament where there was clear evidence that I made a breach and got away with it. How does that make the runner up feel?

Once you go down your path where do you stop.

 

So let us take final 4 victory away from NC. TV showed wrong call by reference in last seconds. He called jump ball, N C possession. TV shows N C player body out of bounds. Should be Gonzaga ball, down 1 with seconds to go.

 

Where hell do you stop. Take TV viewers out, once round is in books, it is over and done. Yes mistakes may happen that is big part of life. Suck it up and move on,.life is not fair, deal with it

 

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I have always been okay with television viewers calling in proposed penalties. That shouldn't be an issue. However; the problem is that the penalty was assessed after the next round began. If a non-disqualification penalty is assessed the USGA should have a rule that it must be assessed before start of play for the next round for all competitors. As soon as the first tee ball was hit on Sunday, the officials should have no authority to assess a penalty on Lexi Thompson. Had they told her on Saturday night or even early AM Sunday I would have been okay with it. This is just another case of the PGA/LPGA not doing right by it's players.

 

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I think as the conversation progresses, given that a call in is ok with the tours, this is the heart of the matter. And the nonsense stems from it being after the fact. The tour no doubt saw damage control necessary and went with john q public as p-r rules becasue revenue across the board rules for those salary suckers on top.

Cant have twitter a flame.

Again, inmates running the asylum.

And how many times have you moved your ball off its mark, by accident? None I would guess. Its not that hard to replace it properly especailly when your focus is total.

His Phil-ness getiing the weigh in is priceless. He of the 'I didnt know the $200,000 I made and had to return was a result of insider trading' 5 second blurb. With the nothing to see here move along by the networks and the tour the result of that.

Tout suite damage control for the chosen one and then his 2 cents on the latest stink.

Priceless.

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I gotta ask 'cause I don't know...

1. Does every group in every pro tourney on every weekend have a qualifed rules official walking with them?

 

2. If not .. why not???

 

3. If so .. why doesn't that person have the final say in all rules matters* either brought to their attention by a playing competitor - while on the course and during the time of play of the "stipulated round" - or a matter that the official calls out.

No. There is not a rules official with every group. Not enough officials and too many players. Thee are exceptions for some events. But in the majority of tournaments the players are self policed by the players in the group. I volunteer as a walking scorer at and LPGA event and if a ruling is requested we call for a rules official.

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Once you go down your path where do you stop.

 

So let us take final 4 victory away from NC. TV showed wrong call by reference in last seconds. He called jump ball, N C possession. TV shows N C player body out of bounds. Should be Gonzaga ball, down 1 with seconds to go.

 

Where hell do you stop. Take TV viewers out, once round is in books, it is over and done. Yes mistakes may happen that is big part of life. Suck it up and move on,.life is not fair, deal with it

 

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Whatever it is you're talking about, it isn't golf. 

Who's next? Lance Armstrong and the Russian Olympic team? 

Try and stay on topic.  ;)

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Whatever it is you're talking about, it isn't golf.

Who's next? Lance Armstrong and the Russian Olympic team?

Try and stay on topic. ;)

I'm done, and agree to disagree

 

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I remain hopeful there will be one loser here. Namely the ludicrous endless PR trumpeting that suggests fairness (via extraordinary review) is ubiquitous in professional sport. Any such suggestion is nothing more than an unnatural house of cards intentionally held together with nearly translucent scotch tape. Press = $$$ and the folks with a seat at the table are absolutely loving the discussion; because so far this day late debate is certainly not shorting them any dollars or lasting credibility.

 

I've viewed the infamous clip about 50 times trying to get a feel for Lexi's mannerisms. My conclusion, she noticed something odd in the final movement of the ball on her previous shot. Most likely the ball came to rest in a slight depression (i.e. an old imperfectly repaired pitch mark). Rather than repair the spot under her ball (totally legal if deemed an old pitch mark) she slightly alters the position and then takes a moment to ensure the ball is at rest (not rolling sideways into the depression) before standing up and brushing it into the hole.

 

Under the circumstances, for Lexi, the best thing that could have happened was for her ball to roll back into the low spot, she then takes the time to make a legal repair and wins by 5 shots. But I believe she was going to make that putt either way and was merely trying to finish out in an expedient fashion.

 

In no way do I believe this hypothetical scenario is a knock against Lexi's honor, rather every pro is well aware how quickly things can go wrong any time you're trying to putt out of a depression and as a group effectively employ "professional courtesy" in those situations. Was it blatant? No. Was it an advantage? Only if she was trying to avoid something other than a pitch mark. Did she play a professional courtesy card? Probably. Should she have taken the time to proceed under the official rules? Right now Lexi would say "absolutely" but this point could easily belong in the pace of play debate. Did the schmuck who brought this to the attention of the officials have money riding against Lexi? Probably. Do I think there should be a private investigation into the masked individual's motivations? Absolutely. This is just my 2 cents; form what opinions you may.

 

In Masters interviews today, Jack and Phil have now both confirmed the "professional courtesy" to which I alluded in my prior posts. Apparently players don't show up on radar until they start regularly replacing a ball 2-3" from the correct spot. The lesson to take away from all this, lauding of your sports heroes/heroines should be limited to their athletic gifts; rather than swallowing the model citizen mantle their media/sponsor partners automatically bestow upon all sporting celebrities. They are all human beings and therefore inevitably prone to flaws (under a societal microscope) of personal judgement. Peace officers don't write out speeding tickets to fellow civil servants and when your golfing heroes notice a serial rule violator it is apparently quietly handled behind closed doors.

 

Why in the world would the powers that be want to handle a competitor's onerous behavior quietly? Follow the money guys. Deal with it.

 

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There is no way she would cheat on such a short putt. This is ridiculous to me

 

First, I am not saying she did or didn't. We were not in her head so we cannot definitively say whether she would or would not.

 

One reason might be that there was a spike mark in front of her ball and she wanted to avoid it. I was in a discussion yesterday where it has been reported that this type of thing is fairly common on the PGA tour based on comment from Phil

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Pretty sad what happened....Leave it to the players or on course judge to decide, never seen a spectator call in a foul on a basketball game or any other sport.

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First, I am not saying she did or didn't. We were not in her head so we cannot definitively say whether she would or would not.

 

One reason might be that there was a spike mark in front of her ball and she wanted to avoid it. I was in a discussion yesterday where it has been reported that this type of thing is fairly common on the PGA tour based on comment from Phil

I have played a lot of golf on a lot of different courses.  Of course, no one is allowed to wear spikes anymore, and I never see ANY spike marks.  I went to the LPGA Championship last year at Sahalee and no one was wearing spikes.  With soft spikes I don't think any of the ladies could leave much of a mark on the greens, well except for Laura Davies!  

 

I also think the rule that spike marks cannot be repaired is wrong.  The first group out each day doesn't have any spike marks to contend with, why should the last group.  How is that fair??

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While the majority don't it is not against the rules. Spike marks also can be indentations or scuffs.

 

I was not arguing the fairness of not repairing just the reality.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Did you guys see the USGA rules update about the use of video .. especially after the fact .. and the intention to limit viewer call-in?

 

I don't play in tournaments, so FWIW, I believe this is a move in the proper direction.

 

IMO, Infractions - actual / observed or perceived / accusatory - should be handled by the playing group plus a qualified rules official either on the spot or immediately after the end of play.

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This should be a player decision situation where they govern and call out each other. Obviously this little game hack is done by the majority and therefore everyone looks the other way. You all know deep down she did it on purpose to avoid a spike mark or something, the evidence is pretty obvious.

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This should be a player decision situation where they govern and call out each other. Obviously this little game hack is done by the majority and therefore everyone looks the other way. You all know deep down she did it on purpose to avoid a spike mark or something, the evidence is pretty obvious.

As much as I dislike the way it went down, I don't disagree with you.

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This should be a player decision situation where they govern and call out each other. Obviously this little game hack is done by the majority and therefore everyone looks the other way. You all know deep down she did it on purpose to avoid a spike mark or something, the evidence is pretty obvious.

No I don't.  I didn't see a spike mark or something, so it's not obvious to me that she did it on purpose.  Careless, yes.  On purpose, inconclusive.

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I do not want to be overly harsh, but I truly believe that rules of golf are being watered down. Once we start that process there is no stopping it and soon we will pick cigarette butts and leaves out of the bunker because they were interfering, at one stage, with Tiger's swing or a mulligan will be allowed because one poor golfer had a difficult childhood, not to mention use of a motorised golf buggy in a PGA competition.

Lexi broke the rules and should pay the consequences as she is a professional golfer and should be aware of all the rules governing the sport through which she is making a good living.

It would be grossly unfair to her fellow competitors, who duly applied the rules of golf in their play,  not to impose the penalty on her.

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Jooma, not sure many disagree with penalty. What is wrong, is tv viewer notifying rules committee following day. The extra 2 strokes is contention.

 

That and tv viewers making rules calls at all.

 

It was an infraction of rules, as such penalty is deserved.

 

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I do not want to be overly harsh, but I truly believe that rules of golf are being watered down. Once we start that process there is no stopping it and soon we will pick cigarette butts and leaves out of the bunker because they were interfering, at one stage, with Tiger's swing or a mulligan will be allowed because one poor golfer had a difficult childhood, not to mention use of a motorised golf buggy in a PGA competition.

Lexi broke the rules and should pay the consequences as she is a professional golfer and should be aware of all the rules governing the sport through which she is making a good living.

It would be grossly unfair to her fellow competitors, who duly applied the rules of golf in their play,  not to impose the penalty on her.

Actually, removing man-made obstructions, like cigarette butts or cans, in a bunker with no penalty is not a new rule.  You can remove these items and if in doing so, the ball moves, it must be replaced under no penalty.  Rule 24-1

 

Just don't touch natural objects like those leaves or rocks.

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