Tag: Rules of Golf

Jordan Spieth explains his crazy gutterball shot at the Valero Texas Open. Would he do it again?

How insane was the line Spieth took during Saturday’s third round in San Antonio?

How insane was the line Jordan Spieth took during the final hole of Saturday’s third round at the Valero Texas Open?

It was still the talk of the tournament nearly 24 hours later, at least until Denny McCarthy rallied to force a playoff with Akshay Bhatia.

After pulling his drive left through the fairway on the 618-yard par 5, Spieth’s second shot ended up near a drainage ditch in an area. It appeared like he’d punch the ball back into the fairway, but then turned the opposite way and launched a wedge that found a gutter atop the TPC San Antonio clubhouse. The move had social media buzzing.

Spieth wound up making double-bogey after three-putting and he said Sunday that he regretted his decision-making process.

2024 Valero Texas Open
Jordan Spieth plays a ball on the 18th hole during the third round of the Valero Texas Open at TPC San Antonio on April 6, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by Brennan Asplen/Getty Images)

“I should have just hit it left-handed out into the fairway. I thought I could get it — I asked the rules official, he told me there’s no out-of-bounds and that if you could get it up here and you know where it is, then you drop it by the scoreboard, which is better than if I were to hit it lefty up towards the fairway,” Spieth explained. “So I tried. It didn’t come out very good and sure enough I was left with the same kind of situation on the next shot and then I did it. If I didn’t three-putt, I maybe felt like I would have saved a shot, but ultimately I could have just re-teed and made a better score.

“It looks weird. I actually played a really, really solid tee-to-green golf course this week and of course highlighted by a weird hole yesterday that makes it look all crazy. But I was just asking questions and to be honest, if it was out of play here, I probably would have made a better score playing the normal route out. I thought I could finagle a stroke, saving a stroke out of it and it didn’t quite do so.”

Spieth said he did not intend to hit the ball on top of the clubhouse, but merely was trying to advance it far enough for a good drop.

“I just needed to get it far enough up to where I would be close enough to the pin to where my drop would be past the hazard,” Spieth said. “So I had to get it far, but you still had to know where the ball was.”

The former University of Texas star rounded out the week with a 69, putting him into a tie for 10th place on the week at 6 under. He also finished the day with a birdie on 18, avoiding any gutters along the way.

“I had come off two missed cuts so I wanted to kind of find out really where I’m at and really feel like I made progress. I felt like my game’s actually been in a better place than other years and it just hasn’t shown for it in the last six, eight weeks. But I wasn’t exactly sure,” Spieth said. “So I think it proved it this week. A couple mistakes. I played the par 5s over par, which is one of my best stats of the year, and I lost like three around the greens, which is also a strength of mine. So it was a very weird. So if I just do those things normal, I’ve got a chance to win. And there’s always ifs, ands and buts.

“I feel like I came into the week unsure if I was confident in being able to win next week and I think I come out of it saying I’ve got a couple things I’ve got to work on, but overall I think I’m in a good place to be able to have a chance. Mission accomplished in that sense, but I do wish that I didn’t kind of give away a few that I gave away this week.”

Right call or outdated rule? Social media reacts to Jordan Spieth’s DQ at 2024 Genesis Invitational

Does the rule need to be changed?

Friday was a wild day at the 2024 Genesis Invitational.

First, there was tournament host Tiger Woods withdrawing from the tournament at Riviera Country Club because of an illness, even a scare with an ambulance waiting to possibly take him away. Then after the round was completed, one of the stars of the PGA Tour was disqualified.

Jordan Spieth was DQ’d after signing an incorrect scorecard. Spieth signed for a 3 after making a 4 on the 245-yard, par-3 fourth hole. He hit his tee shot into the left rough, chipped to within four feet and then missed the par putt.

Spieth owned up to his mistake, posting on his social media accounts about the ordeal.

The announcement came late Friday night, with Spieth in the third-to-final group of the day, and it sent social media into a frenzy discussing the rule and how it happened in the first place.

However, that didn’t stop the shortage of people discussing whether the rule needed to be changed or if it was the right call. Here are some of the best reactions to Spieth’s DQ:

Carl Yuan loses ball near hospitality tent, gets questionable free drop after PGA Tour official’s ruling

Yuan’s lost a ball after a wayward shot on the 18th hole which led to a controversial ruling on Sunday.

Carl Yuan was bailed out with a wild ruling on Sunday in the final round of the 2024 Sony Open in Hawaii.

On the 18th hole, a 550-yard par 5, Yuan was in a five-way tie for the lead at 16 under and found a fairway bunker off the tee. His second shot was wayward to the right and was bound for a hospitality tent down the right side of the fairway. Yuan’s ball wasn’t found, but a PGA Tour rules official granted the 26-year-old a free drop in the short grass two club lengths from the hospitality stand, which was ruled as a Temporary Immovable Obstruction (TIO). Yuan was unable to take advantage of the break and made par to take the clubhouse lead at 16 under.

Shortly after the incident, Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis reported on the broadcast that a rules official said there was “virtual certainty” from video evidence and fans in the stand that the ball was lost in the tent.

According to the USGA and R&A, if a player’s ball is not found but is known or virtually certain to have come to rest in a TIO, “the player may take relief by using the estimated point where the ball last crossed the edge of the TIO on the course as the spot of the ball for purposes of finding the nearest point of complete relief.”

The video shows a white ball flying near the white tent before it disappears. The question is, if the ball wasn’t found, how could the rules officials or fans know with any certainty it was lost in the tent? Hospitality tents aren’t exactly quiet, so if fans heard the ball hit the tent, how do they know it didn’t ricochet out of play since it was never found?

The ruling was an odd one, and while it didn’t wind up impacting the winner of the tournament, the Tour may have some explaining to do.

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PGA Tour pros sound off on potential golf ball rollback

Some PGA Tour pros are calling it “one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard of.”

NASSAU, Bahamas – The USGA and R&A haven’t even officially released a rule change that would universally roll back golf ball distances and already some PGA Tour pros are calling it “one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard of.”

The governing bodies are expected to make an announcement early next week after a three-year “Notice and Comment” period with equipment makers and other golf organizations. After initially suggesting that it would be added as a local model rule geared to elite players, the USGA and R&A reportedly have changed directions and intend to roll back the ball for everyone, including the weekend warrior.

Collin Morikawa hit with 2-stroke penalty for ‘unwittingly’ violating Model Local Rule at 2023 Hero World Challenge

Morikawa’s third-round score at the fourth hole was changed to a triple-bogey 7.

NASSAU, Bahamas – Collin Morikawa was assessed a two-shot penalty for violating local model rule G-11, which restricts the use of green-reading material, on the fourth hole of the third round of the 2023 Hero World Challenge.

The rules committee was alerted to a potential rule violation late Saturday night after a question was posed by a player in the field. When asked if it was Morikawa’s playing partner during the third round, Matt Fitzpatrick, who brought the potential rule violation into question, chief referee Stephen Cox of the PGA Tour confirmed that was the case.

The local model rule was added in 2022 to protect the fundamental skill of reading greens. It’s not the first time a Tour pro has violated the rule.

Cox met with JJ Jakovac, Morikawa’s caddie, about two hours before their 12:03 p.m. final-round tee time. After reviewing his yardage book, it became clear that Jakovac had created a putting chart, which isn’t a violation of the rules in itself, but the manner of obtaining the information is key to the ruling. Jakovac used a level on the practice putting green and wrote a note directly into his yardage book and used it for assessing the read on the fourth hole during Saturday’s third round.

“Fortunately, that was the only time that a player or caddie used that chart or formula and on that basis the breach remained two strokes,” Cox said.

“This is a very complicated issue,” Cox added. “We were very specific in the fact that these handwritten notes needed to be obtained through traditional methods to protect the fundamental skill of reading greens through our sport and that’s the foundation of why we put the model local rule in place. In this situation, again, unwittingly, the player used a level to determine degrees of slope on the practice putting green, which in itself, isolated, is not a breach, but what that player did was formulated a chart and transferred that into his book.”

Had Jakovac devised a chart using his feet and estimated the slope or simply retained the information obtained from the measuring devise to memory rather than as a handwritten note, there would have been no penalty.

Morikawa was informed of the penalty on the range about 10-15 minutes before his tee time by Cox. When asked to describe Morikawa’s response, Cox said, “It went very similar to any other conversation that results in a penalty. He was very frustrated. It’s a very complicated rule.”

As a result, Morikawa’s third-round score at the fourth hole was changed to a triple-bogey 7, giving him an even-par 72.

“They understood the rule was broken but anytime the rules penalize a player there is inevitable pushback and frustration and that was shared by both player and caddie, which is human nature,” Cox told NBC Sports.

“At the end of the day we made the mistake and it’s on us. Thankfully it only happened that one time,” Morikawa said after his round Sunday.

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Rory McIlroy explains why he doesn’t understand the ‘anger about the golf ball roll back’

“It will make no difference whatsoever to the average golfer and puts golf back on a path of sustainability.”

Rory McIlroy is taking some time off after a busy 2023, but a brief break from competition doesn’t mean the world No. 2 is completely checked out from the game.

On Sunday morning McIlroy took to social media to voice his opinion about the recent report that the USGA and R&A plan to announce a universal golf ball rollback next week.

“I don’t understand the anger about the golf ball roll back. It will make no difference whatsoever to the average golfer and puts golf back on a path of sustainability,” McIlroy wrote. “It will also help bring back certain skills in the pro game that have been eradicated over the past 2 decades.”

The four-time major champion stood up for the two governing bodies and told fans their anger should be directed at elite professionals as well as the equipment manufacturers “because they didn’t want bifurcation.”

“The governing bodies presented us with that option earlier this year. Elite pros and ball manufacturers think bifurcation would negatively affect their bottom lines, when in reality, the game is already bifurcated,” he argued. “You think we play the same stuff you do? They put pressure on the governing bodies to roll it back to a lesser degree for everyone. Bifurcation was the logical answer for everyone, but yet again in this game, money talks.”

McIlroy has been on the frontlines for the PGA Tour in its battle against LIV Golf for the better half of the last two years and has been an active voice in the game for most of his career. The 34-year-old recently resigned from his position as a player director on the Tour’s Policy Board.

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Two-shot penalty costs this Korn Ferry Tour golfer a PGA Tour card for 2024

Tuten will get a chance to try to make up for the gaffe, but he’ll have to wait two months.

The season-ending Korn Ferry Tour Championship determines which 30 golfers will gain promotion to the PGA Tour for 2024. With 16 of those spots already locked up, that left everyone battling for the other 14.

Shad Tuten was in a good position to grab one of those spots, as he was sitting 29th on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List heading into the 72-hole, no-cut finale. He then posted scores of 69-73-69 over the first three days to sit just outside the top 10.

But on Sunday, Tuten signed for a 76, which included a two-shot penalty at the soggy Victoria National Golf Club in Newburgh, Indiana.

According to the Korn Ferry Tour: “Shad Tuten was assessed a two-stroke penalty on hole No. 15 under preferred lies local rule E-3, turning a 2-over 74 into a 4-over 76. Tuten also fell from projected No. 30 on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List to No. 32.”

Chief referee Jim Duncan provided context on the ruling.

When it was all said and done, Tuten slid back from the No. 29 to No. 32 on the outside looking in at the 2024 PGA Tour season.

Tuten will get a chance to try to make up for the gaffe, but he’ll have to wait two months. Players who finished Nos. 31-60 on the KFT points list have earned exemptions to the Final Stage of PGA Tour Q-School, where the top five finishers and ties will earn their 2024 PGA Tour cards. The final stage is Dec. 14-17 at TPC Sawgrass Dye’s Valley Course as well as Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

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Carlota Ciganda refuses slow-play penalty, gets DQ’d from LPGA’s Evian major

The DQ was for signing an incorrect scorecard.

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Carlota Ciganda, a two-time winner on the LPGA and a five-time member of the European Solheim Cup team, was disqualified after the first round of the 2023 Amundi Evian Championship, the fourth LPGA major of the season.

The official reason was for signing an incorrect scorecard, but the situation arose out of a slow-play penalty assessed on Ciganda’s final hole of the round. The Spaniard refused to acknowledge a two-shot penalty, signed her card without adding the two shots, then was DQ’d.

Ciganda was 3 over after her round, not counting the penalty strokes. The penalty would have pushed her score to 5-over 76, and she would have trailed first-round leader Paula Reto by 12 shots.

Ciganda was playing with fellow Arizona State alum Anna Nordqvist as well as Celine Herbin. Officially Group 14, the threesome started on the 10th hole Thursday at Evian Resort Golf Club in Evain-Les-Bains, France.

When they got to the seventh hole, their 16th hole of the day, they were notified by rules officials that they were out of position.

After failing to make up time, the group was put on the clock on the eighth hole, their 17th of the round. On the ninth hole, Ciganda took too long to play and was assessed a two-stroke penalty per the LPGA’s pace of play policy.

As was her right, she appealed to the advance and lead rules officials but was denied, meaning the two-stroke penalty would stick. She opted to sign her scorecard without accounting for those two strokes. Ciganda was told if she left the official recording area having turned in a signed incorrect scorecard, she would be disqualified. The LPGA said she left of her own accord, leading to the DQ.

An LPGA spokesperson told Golfweek: “Rule 3.3b(3) states that if a returned score is lower than the actual score, the player is disqualified from the competition. The exception to this Rule does not apply because Ciganda was aware of the penalty strokes received and upheld before signing her scorecard and leaving the recording area.”

Ciganda tied for 12th in her most recent event, the Dana Open, following a tie for 20th at the U.S. Women’s Open and a tie for third at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. She ranks 14th on this year’s money list with $876,447, and she is No. 31 in the Rolex Women’s World Rankings. She won both her LPGA titles in 2016.

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Professional golfer busted for cheating, confesses he did it

Players first noticed something wasn’t right about his 36-hole total of 3-under during lunch and reported it.

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Justin Doeden forgot the saying cheaters never win.

The 28-year-old pro on Monday confessed he cheated last week at PGA Tour Canada’s Ottawa Open.

He stood accused of changing his score on the final hole of his second round at Eagle Creek Golf Club from a 7 to a 5 after his card already had been signed by his playing partner. That brazen act meant his incorrect score would be good enough to make the 36-hole cut by one stroke at T-60. It also would have prevented 13 other players from making the cut and deprived them of earning a paycheck for the week.

Ryan French of the Monday Q Info first reported the story.

“At scoring, the player who kept Doeden’s card confirmed his scores and signed it,” French wrote. “Doeden then asked for the card, saying he wanted to double-check some things. Not thinking anything of it, the player handed the card to Doeden and left the scoring area. When he gave it to Doeden, the 18th hole showed a 7.”

Players first noticed something wasn’t right about his 36-hole total of 3-under during lunch and reported it to tournament officials who discovered Doeden’s use of an eraser to change his score. Doeden withdrew from the tournament during the officials’ investigation. He initially did not respond to a request for comment from French.

On Monday, he confessed he cheated in a social media post and asked for forgiveness.

“I am here to confess of the biggest mistake I have made in my life to date,” he wrote. “I cheated in golf. This is not who I am. I let my sponsors down. I let my competitors down. I let my family down. I let myself down. I pray for your forgiveness. John 1:9.”

Doeden, who played collegiately at the University of Minnesota and has competed in one event each on the Korn Ferry and PGA Tours while spending the bulk of his time on PGA Tour Canada and PGA Tour Latinoamerica, likely will be suspended under the Tour’s catch-all of “conduct unbecoming” but we’ll never know.

“Per Tour policy, the matter — and any related disciplinary action — will be handled internally,” a spokesperson for the PGA Tour told the media.

Regardless, Doeden will wear the scarlet letter of being a cheater, and that will be an enormous burden for him to bear.

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Here’s why the Rules of Golf are constantly being evaluated

“As long as golfers are out there playing the game, the rules are going to keep changing.”

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(Editor’s note: This is the third installment of a three-part series on the Rules of Golf. The first part was a look at the five most-searched rules in 2023 and the second discussed the USGA’s rules hotline.)

The Rules of Golf govern every shot during a professional round or even an outing with friends, but they’re never in the front of your mind when lining up a 10-foot putt or a tee shot.

Where you can take relief from, how you can mark a ball on a green and how to deal with ground under repair are all common issues one may face during a round of golf. Yet the rules guiding the game are constantly changing, and sometimes it can be hard for a weekend golfer to keep up with the changes.

However, that doesn’t stop the United States Golf Association and R&A from continually evaluating the rules to make sure they’re up to par with today’s standards and the way golf is played.

“As long as golfers are out there playing the game, the rules are going to keep changing,” said Craig Winter, the USGA’s senior director of Rules of Golf. “That’s true of any sport and society in general. Rules obviously help golfers understand how the game is played.”

As far as the USGA, which helps govern the game of golf with the R&A, Winter said the organization is always taking feedback on rules and whether changes need to be made.

Winter said there’s a committee, which includes PGA Tour, LPGA, PGA of America and other representation, that meets three times a year to discuss the Rules of Golf. During those meetings, the committee and its experts will talk about the rules, whether they think some need to be changed and try to answer questions that were submitted.

The USGA and R&A partnered for joint governance in 1952, and new rules have been announced in four-year cycles ever since. It changed with the modernized rules update in 2019, meaning the new four-year cycle put rule changes at the beginning of this year with the next to come in 2027.

“The joint meetings are a really good chance for us to get together and get deep into what are you looking for with this particular item, this particular reason for change,” Winter said.

There are also quarterly clarifications that can come out on rules, including one that did in July.

Winter said the USGA receives nearly 15,000 questions a year regarding the Rules of Golf. Although the USGA doesn’t discuss all of them among the committee, the ones that get them thinking and stir up a conversation on whether a change needs to be made are brought up on the bigger stage.

“We live and breath the rules,” Winter said. “Especially as a staff, that’s what our job is. We’re always thinking about the rules. Anything you’re thinking about, you’re thinking about how it is, how it was and how it could be. That process just kind of feeds itself.”

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