I found it ironic the day after I wrote about cheaters in golf, Tiger Woods is penalized for taking an illegal drop at Abu Dhabi and misses the cut by one. For the record, Tiger was not DQ'ed--he was informed of the rules infraction on the 11th hole--and his scorecard was adjusted in the scoring area to reflect the two extra strokes on the 5th hole. I heard two fellow media members say Tiger was DQ'ed on Friday and that was not accurate.
I saw the drop in question live Friday morning. One of the advantages of going to work at 3:00 am--and having a TV in your office is that you can keep an eye on Far East or European sports events--and nobody thinks your nuts for getting up that early. At first, the braodcast crew was a little unsure as to why Tiger was taking the drop--they first thought he was taking an unplayable lie. But he never measured out any point of relief and dropped where he had been before. Then they found out that Tiger had taken relief from a plugged lie--and that's when I knew we were going to have a problem.
In my last post, I mentioned the guy who wrongly demanded relief from a plugged lie in a red hazard during a tournament we were playing a few years ago. Having read that rule several times now, I know that relief applies only to areas "through the green"--and that means in an area that is actually being "groomed" for play. You don't get relief if your ball plugs in a fescue area. You don't get relief if you plug in an area of pine needles. And you don't get relief if you plug in a "waste" or "sandy area".
I don't know if Tiger thought that because there were some weeds and bushes growing around his ball that this was not a "sandy area"--but judging by the speed by which he decided to pick up, drop and play out sideways--I think Tiger had pretty much punched out mentally and was just looking forward to getting the heck out of Abu Dhabi. I'd be willing to bet a week's paycheck that if that ball had plugged at a major, or TPC or the Memorial--Tiger would have had not just a rules official over there--but Slugger White, Tim Finchem and Mike Davis as well.
I've heard some criticism of Martin Kaymer for telling Tiger he could take a drop. Based on the post round interviews, the only thing Woods asked Kaymer was for confirmation that his ball was embedded (proper procedure). In no way is Martin required by the rules to say "It doesn't matter, Tiger, you're in a waste area and can't take free relief". Besides, much has been made over the years about Tiger's encyclopedic knowledge of the rules (refer to the gallery removing the "loose impediment" boulder from Tiger's swing path at Scottsdale. Ken Venturi still gets pissed off talking about that--20-years later.)
The one thing I wasn't a fan of in this situation is that once again, it was someone watching the action on TV that called in the infraction. A golf writer watching the action in the media center went to the tournament officials and said Tiger had violated the rule on embedded balls. The officials went to the video--confirmed the infraction and then caught up with Tiger at 11. While I want the rules to be enforced at all times, I believe strongly that the use of TV as a post-infraction way of enforcing them is inheirently unfair.
Someone like Tiger, Rory and Phil has nearly every shot of every tournament captured on tape and archived for potential playback. But someone like Jeev Milka-Singh, Brenden Grace and Paul Lawrie can play nine holes without a camera ever being turned on one of their shots. There were probably 75 guys in that Euro event field that could have done the very same thing Tiger did--and if their playing competitors didn't know the rule either--there would have been no penalty for them. But because every Tiger shot is not only filmed--but is usually recorded at close range--he is under greater rules scrutiny and enforcement than anyone else on the course.
The one positive that we all enjoy from this: nobody is taking a drop from an embedded lie in a "sandy area" for the next few years.
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