Tag: Rules of Golf

Eddie Pepperell DQ’d from Qatar Masters, explains how on Twitter

Eddie Pepperell was disqualified from Qatar Masters after signing an incorrect scorecard. He then explained what happened on Twitter.

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Eddie Pepperell certainly knows how to make a disqualification interesting.

The 29-year-old Englishman was DQ’d from the European Tour’s Qatar Masters on Thursday and this time, it wasn’t because he ran out of golf balls.

Pepperell was disqualified after the first round because he signed an incorrect scorecard. But it wasn’t that simple.

Pepperell explained the mishap on Twitter, writing his score of 71 was correct, but his partner put down a 5 on the par-4 11, when Pepperell actually double-bogeyed the hole. He said his partner also marked a 3 on the par-4 16, opposed to a 4.

Pepperell said he changed both errors, but made another mistake in the process. He accidentally changed the score on the par-4 17th, which he birdied, instead of the 16th.

MORE: Leaderboard at Qatar Masters

“Quite disappointing as I actually took the time to change the original error, only to make a costlier one myself,” Pepperell wrote. “I asked the referee if this had any bearing on my disqualification but it didn’t.

“The rules are the rules and I 100% accept that, but I can’t help feeling that this particular way of disqualification is a fair distance away from common sense, and that’s also disappointing. I enjoyed the course however and hopefully next time I’ll do a better job.”

Pepperell’s score of even-par 71 would have given him a share of 61st headed into the event’s second round.

This isn’t the first weird disqualification Pepperell has experienced. During last season’s Turkish Airlines Open, Pepperell was disqualified during the final round for running out of golf balls after the contents of his ball pocket spilled out into a pond beside the fourth green.

Nicolai Højgaard holds the first-round lead at the Qatar Masters by one shot at 7 under. Joost Uiten sits in second ahead of a six-way tie for third at 5 under.

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Most memorable, bizarre rules controversies of 2019

When the new Rules of Golf were implemented on Jan. 1, 2019, it took player a while to adjust. Here are some of the memorable violations.

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The USGA announced major changes to the Rules of Golf which went into effect on Jan. 1, 2019.

It didn’t take long for the new rules to create headlines.

Thirty-seven major clarifications are divided into eight different categories— ball at rest, ball in motion, taking relief, areas of the course, equipment, playing a ball, when to play during a round (including pace of play) and player behavior.

The specifics involving the new rules and their revised language compared to the previous rule can be read on the USGA’s website.

Over the year, we tracked the most surprising and controversial rules violations in all competitive levels of golf. Here are a few of the most memorable rules violations from 2019.

Be sure to vote for the most bizarre rules violation of the year at the end of the story.

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Patrick Reed’s rules violation prompted an immediate reaction from Greg Norman

Greg Norman spoke out on a rules infraction Patrick Reed committed in a waste area at last week’s Hero World Challenge.

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Greg Norman is willing to speak on behalf on all Australians when he says that Down Under, the general public does not look particularly kindly on people who “step across the line and take advantage of anything in sport.” The comment was made in reference to a rules infraction Patrick Reed committed in a waste area at last week’s Hero World Challenge.

Reed was ultimately handed a two-shot penalty for two practice strokes he made in the waste area that were deemed to have improved his line of play. A camera stationed directly behind him captured quite clearly the piles of sand that Reed removed with those strokes. When Norman saw that footage on the Hero telecast, alarm bells went off.

On a Wednesday episode of his SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio show, “Attack Life Radio,” Norman revealed that he was so taken aback by Reed’s actions in the waste area that upon seeing it that he immediately texted a rules official he knew was on site and told him to review the tape. Norman said on the show that the official told him he was the first person to notify Tour officials of the infraction.

“He said I was the first person to reach out to anybody about seeing what had happened,” Norman said. “Now, I can’t speak for the NBC commentators.  I can’t speak for the production crew that’s in the van watching all these multiple screens and stuff like that.  All I know was that I was told that I was the first one to notify the Tour officials of this infraction.”

The penalty Reed received as a result inflated his third-round 72 to a 74. He ended the tournament two shots behind winner Henrik Stenson despite closing with 66.

Norman noted that he wasn’t sure how Reed would be received by Australian crowds in the wake of that action. International team member Cameron Smith, one of three Australians on that team, said earlier in the week that though he’s always gotten along with Reed, he doesn’t “have any sympathy for anyone that cheats.” Norman called Smith’s comments “very forthright,” and perhaps a preview of what’s to come.

Norman made it clear he would always defend the integrity of the game, regardless of how he feels about Reed personally. He has been a voice of praise for Reed and his “moxie” in the past, as he pointed out on the show.

“From my personal perspective, you know, I get really repulsed with that because, to me, you’ve got to protect the integrity of the game, not protect the player,” he said. “Over the years that I’ve been involved with the sport, for 40-plus years, I’ve seen a lot of things happen and, to me, I’ve always been at the forefront of protecting the game before anybody else. I don’t care what it is, whether it is an infraction of the rules, or signing a scorecard incorrectly, or taking an illegal drop, or whatever it is that I see, I will always, always stand on the forefront of protecting the game first.”

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Eamon’s Corner: Other sports tolerate cheats. Golf is no different

Patrick Reed deserves all the criticism he’s getting for rules violation

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Recreational golfers, professionals and broadcasters alike cling to the self-aggrandizing myth that merely playing the game of golf automatically makes a man or woman honest and full of integrity.

It doesn’t. Golf is no different than any other sport.

This illusion was shattered most recently during the Hero World Challenge when Patrick Reed was assessed a two-stroke penalty for violating Rule 8-1a, which states players are not allowed to remove or press down on sand or loose soil to improve conditions affecting a stroke. Reed did it twice in the third round.

Since the rules violation, Reed has received criticism from fans and he deserves every bit of it.

Watch the latest episode of Eamon’s Corner above to hear why.

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Two-stroke penalty ultimately too much for Patrick Reed to overcome at Hero

Patrick Reed contended on Saturday in the final round of the Hero World Challenge but came up short in his quest for victory in the Bahamas.

Patrick Reed, who made headlines on Friday after getting hit with a two-stroke penalty, contended on Saturday in the final round of the Hero World Challenge but came up short in his quest for victory in the Bahamas.

Reed opened 66-66 but ended up with a 74 in his third round after he was penalized for brushing sand away. Officials ruled that it constituted an attempt to improve his line of play on the 11th hole at Albany Golf Club.

Under Rule 8, which addresses playing the course as the player finds it, a player is prohibited from improving conditions affecting a stroke.

Reed made a late surge with birdies on 15, 16 and 17 and had seven birdies in all. But he had to rally for par on 18 to shoot his third 66 of the week and finished 16 under and in third place, two shots ahead of Tiger Woods.

The two-stroke penalty ultimately proved too much to overcome, as Reed finished two shots back of tournament winner Henrik Stenson, who finished 18 under after a par on the final hole.

Hero World Challenge: Photo gallery

“So after seeing the video, it’s a two-stroke penalty,” Reed said on Friday. “I accept it. It wasn’t because of any intent. I felt like I was far enough away, because of what we saw.”

Reed led by three strokes after the second round. He will head to Australia with the rest of the American contingent as a captain’s pick for the Presidents Cup.

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Patrick Reed slapped with two-stroke penalty at Hero World Challenge

Patrick Reed was deemed to have improved his line of play in a waste bunker, and thus was penalized two shots.

The end of the third round of the Hero World Challenge was filled with temporary uncertainty for Patrick Reed, who ultimately incurred a two-stroke penalty for a pair of practice swings taken in a waste bunker on the 11th hole at Albany Golf Club in the Bahamas. Reed was deemed to have improved his line of play with those practice strokes.

The additional strokes turned Reed’s second-round 72 into a 74. He started the day with a three-shot lead and could have ended the day within one shot of co-leaders Gary Woodland and Henrik Stenson, who stand at 13 under. The two penalty shots, however, bumped him to 10 under.

Reed was penalized for brushing sand away – officials ruled that it constituted an attempt to improve his line of play. Under Rule 8, which addresses playing the course as the player finds it, a player is prohibited from improving conditions affecting a stroke.

Hero World Challenge: Photo gallery

Under Rule 8-1a, actions that are not allowed include the removal or pressing down of sand or loose soil.

Reed did that twice, though the second movement is irrelevant.

After the round, Reed told the Golf Channel he had spent only four or five minutes with rules officials reviewing video of him taking practice strokes in the waste area.

“At the end of the day you gotta let things roll of your shoulders,” Reed said to Golf Channel. “Also at the same time, I have another whole round to play tomorrow.

“If I stew over something that I felt like I didn’t intentionally do, at the end of the day it’s my word versus their word. They weren’t standing there, they had a camera angle. Because of that, you don’t really have a choice.”

Intent did not come into play in Reed’s actions, according to PGA Tour rules official Slugger White.

“He could not have been more of a gentleman,” White told media after the penalty was assessed.

The action became a prominent story line throughout the third-round telecast, considering that Reed committed the action just after the turn. Rules officials did not address the penalty until the end of the round, though White acknowledged they would have addressed it immediately had it happened in the final round.

Hero World Challenge scores

Position Player R3 Score To par
1 Gary Woodland 68 -13
T-2 Patrick Reed 72 -12
T-2 Henrik Stenson 68 -12
T-4 Tiger Woods 67 -11
T-4 Justin Thomas 67 -11
T-4 Jon Rahm 69 -11
T-7 Chez Reavie 69 -6
T-7 Rickie Fowler 72 -6
T-7 Justin Rose 71 -6
T-10 Matt Kuchar 70 -5
T-10 Kevin Kisner 70 -5
12 Webb Simpson 71 -4
13 Xander Schauffele 70 -3
14 Jordan Spieth 69 -2
T-15 Tony Finau 69 E
T-15 Bubba Watson 71 E
T-17 Bryson DeChambeau 70 +1
T-17 Patrick Cantlay 71 +1

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Presidents Cup ‘advice giver’ can change when Tiger Woods tees it up

The burden of providing advice can be passed off (and reassumed) by Tiger Woods next week during his role as Presidents Cup playing captain.

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Tiger Woods has so far been coy about the number of matches he intends to play at next week’s Presidents Cup. Considering the form he has displayed at the Hero World Challenge – particularly in firing a bogey-free 66 in the second round – the playing captain would be wise to slot himself into the lineup frequently.

Woods is the first man to take on the role of Presidents Cup playing captain since Hale Irwin did it in 1994, the year of the inaugural matches. For the record, Irwin played three times that year, appearing in the foursomes lineup each of the first two days before going out in the lead singles match against Robert Allenby on the final day. His record was 2-1 (which included a singles victory over Allenby).

“I’m playing a minimum of two [matches],” Woods said Thursday with a smile. “Does that help you?”

There’s obviously much more to it than that, though.

Hero World Challenge: Best photos from Bahamas

Woods has brought on three assistant captains in Fred Couples, Steve Stricker and Zach Johnson (the former two being past Presidents Cup captains themselves). The question is how, exactly, they’ll fill in when Woods is on the course competing, particularly when it comes to giving advice.

The Presidents Cup rulebook states that when it comes to “any counsel or suggestion that could influence a player in determining his play, the choice of a club or the method of making a stroke, each team may appoint one person who may give advice to members of that team. Such person must be identified to the committee before giving advice.”

These stipulations reflect the wording in the Rules of Golf section that covers team competition (Rule 24) and the procedures regarding the creation of a local rule that allows for an “advice giver.”

A report by Golf Channel has cleared up some of the details about how much (and when, exactly) Woods’ assistant captains can take over while he’s competing. The PGA Tour sent this response to a Golf Channel inquiry:

“The captain needs to advise the chief referee before the start of each round who has the advice. The captain may switch the person during the round. For example, if Tiger is planning to play, he would need to advise rules before the matches start who has the advice. After he finishes, he could switch back if he wanted.”

Add those particulars to a long list of other details Woods must address as the captain.

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Rules of golf: 10 biggest controversies of the decade

Tiger Woods, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, and Lexi Thompson were all engulfed in some of the decade’s biggest Rules of Golf controversies.

There was no shortage of options for making this list.

Plenty of first-name only star power — Phil, Tiger, DJ and Lexi — were among the biggest offenders.

That’s because the Rules of Golf are complicated, and despite revisions and clarification and an overhaul that went into effect in 2019, there are still regular occurrences where the punishment doesn’t seem to fit the crime plus plenty of room for ambiguity.

Here are the 10 biggest Rules controversies that sparked debate in this decade:

10. Haotong Li, 2019 Dubai Desert Classic

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - JANUARY 27: Haotong Li of China takes his tee shot on hole one during Day Four of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic at Emirates Golf Club on January 27, 2019 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images)
Haotong Li at the 2019 Omega Dubai Desert Classic in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images)

In the final round, Haotong Li canned a birdie putt on the 18th hole to apparently finish in third place. But as ESPN’s Lee Corso would say, not so fast, my friends. Li’s caddie violated one of the new Rules of Golf that went into effect in 2019 – Rule 10.2b – “once the player begins taking a stance for the stroke, and until the stroke is made, the player’s caddie must not deliberately stand on or close to an extension of the line of play behind the ball for any reason.” The two-stroke change dropped Li to a tie for 12th place and cost him the equivalent of about $100,000.

As a result of this ruling and a similarly harsh interpretation of the Rule against Denny McCarthy at the Waste Management Phoenix Open in February, a clarification was released addressing issues with the Rule. In short, it clarified what it meant to “deliberately” stand behind the player and provided more guidance for when a player actually has “begun taking his or her stance.”

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Report: Sergio Garcia’s return to Saudi won’t include appearance fee

Sergio Garcia will get a chance to redeem himself for bad behavior next year when he returns to the Saudi International.

Sergio Garcia will get a chance to redeem himself for bad behavior next year when he returns to the Saudi International. Garcia’s last appearance in the European Tour event in Saudi Arabia ended in disqualification after he willfully damaged greens and slashed around in a bunker during the tournament.

When Garcia played the inaugural Saudi International in February 2019, he received an appearance fee reportedly in the neighborhood of $650,000. The Telegraph reported that he was not asked to return any of it despite the disqualification, which came at the end of the third round when other players complained about the damage he had caused to putting surfaces.

Here’s the catch, though: His next appearance does not come with any fee.

“It is understood this was one of the conditions placed on the 2017 Masters champion by the European Tour as it spared him a suspension,” according to the Telegraph report.

The tournament will once again overlap the PGA Tour’s Waste Management Phoenix Open in 2020. Dustin Johnson won the inaugural event and will return to defend.

ESPN also reported that in addition to Garcia adding his name to the 2020 field, Patrick Reed, Henrik Stenson, Shane Lowry and Brooks Koepka will also play.

Garcia played 16 events on the European Tour in the 2019 season and won once, at the KLM Open.

His most recent headlines have been positive. Garcia and his wife Angela announced earlier this month that they are expecting their second child, a boy.

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Russell Henley speaks on golf ball gaffe that cost him eight strokes at Mayakoba

Russell Henley self-reported a penalty for using a different model golf ball that cost him eight penalty strokes and led to a missed cut.

Russell Henley was at the scoring tent after shooting a 2-under 69 during Saturday’s second round of the Mayakoba Golf Classic when his caddie tossed him two balls to sign for the standard bearer and walking scorer with his group. That’s when Henley first realized the innocent gaffe he had made.

“When I get done with a ball, my caddie will mark through it with a line so I don’t re-use them,” Henley said in a phone interview on Sunday. “He gave me two balls to sign and the Pro V1x part of it was facing up at me and I just looked at it and there’s a little dash beside the Pro V1x. I was like, ‘Hmm, that’s weird, is that what all my balls look like?’ I was caught off guard.”

The PGA Tour uses a one-ball rule as a condition of competition, which means players can only use one specific brand and model of ball during a round. The penalty for using a different model is two strokes per hole that the ball is used.

Henley, who said he uses the 2017 model of the Pro V1x ball, went to his bag and compared it to the other nine balls in there and noticed that one was not like the others. The rest didn’t have the dash. He’d never even hit the offending ball, which he said is a Titleist prototype. When asked how it got in his bag, Henley guessed that he may have picked the ball up by accident while putting to the same hole on the practice putting green as another Titleist ambassador.

Mayakoba: Leaderboard | TV info | Photos

“I called PGA Tour rules official Brad Fabel over because something was wrong and I wanted to voice it,” he said. “I told them the scenario that I probably played it, but I don’t know. It looked scuffed up and it had a line through it, but I couldn’t tell you what number ball I used yesterday on No. 4,” Henley said. “I change balls every four or five holes, whenever I hit a wedge and there’s a scuff on it or something. I think I changed around No. 4, 9 or 10 and 14 or 15.”

Fabel brought in Slugger White, the PGA Tour’s vice president of rules and competitions, who phoned the USGA for clarification. It took the better part of an hour before Henley received the verdict.

“They told me that based on what we know and the high probability I used it, we’re going to take the average of the number of holes you typically used it, which is four,” Henley said.

He was assessed eight penalty strokes – two per hole for Nos. 9-12 – turning what had been a 69 into signing for a 6-over 77.

RELATED: Henley assessed 8 penalty shots in oddball ruling

“Well, that sends me home,” Henley said at the time. Indeed, it did. He caught a 6:15 p.m. flight and arrived home after midnight.

“Do I think eight shots is extreme in this situation? Absolutely,” said Henley, who said he was still processing the unusual circumstances. “I think there should be a max of four. I hope eventually we can have some conversations and change the rule. I came from such an innocent place, you could call it a careless place, and given there was no intent I think it’s a pretty harsh rule. It can be debated both ways and I’m aware of that. It’s unfortunate when you’re playing well and in contention, like I was, to you’re missing the cut. It’s tough to swallow.”

But Henley said it won’t crush him because he’s learned not to let his golf score be his identity. His game has been trending in the right direction thanks to a putting tip from Brandt Snedeker after they played together at the Sanderson Farms Championship.

“I felt like I was gaining momentum with my game,” Henley said. “I felt really confident about my chances; I don’t know about winning but I proved to myself that I can go low on Sunday at the John Deere last year. I had two rounds to get it done and I felt good about my game.”

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