The scene of the incident
Graeme McDowell’s opening round at the European PGA Championship ended on a sour note with a triple-bogey 8 to post a two-over 74. He incurred a two-shot penalty on the 18th hole at Wentworth because of a “freak” rules violation and a slight brain fart by the golfer. After an errant tee shot into the bushes, McDowell tried to take a look at his ball, which was entangled in some branches, and as he approached, he thought it may have oscillated a dimple or two.
He went ahead and punched out, and then as he walked down the fairway, he called over a rules official and asked him to take a look at the TV footage because he wasn’t sure if it had moved — even though he couldn’t have necessarily prevented it and didn’t gain an advantageous lie. Point of the rule is to protect the field from a player improving his/her lie, but there’s that gray area where intention should come into play as it does in several other rules.
Sure enough, the high-def, slow-mo camera (ahem, technology has changed the game, so shouldn’t the rules adapt and be updated accordingly?…) showed G-Mac’s ball rotating a few dimples, which is virtually immeasurable because it’s so insignificant, but that’s not the point. According to the Rules of Golf, that’s a one-shot penalty, and since he didn’t replace the ball, he was handed another.
Sounds a tad absurd, doesn’t it? Yep. At the same time, McDowell should have called over an official before hitting the shot if he thought his ball had moved.
“It’s my fault,” he told reporters after his round. “Like I said I probably should have called a referee in at that point. I know what to do in the future let’s put it that way.”
That came as a little surprising because from what I’ve seen, I consider McDowell to be one of the most knowledgeable players on the rules. Which also probably explains why he proceeded without asking for an official and felt unnerved by the unfavorable outcome.
At the same time, he made several good point about the problems of several outdated rules that don’t stand the test of time, or rather, technology. Recently, it seems like rules controversies have been making headlines more often than Tiger Woods. Well, that’s a little extreme, but definitely a close second.
“The rules are there for everyone’s protection,” said McDowell. “It’s easy to say that when you’re on the wrong side of them. And yeah, I’m disappointed that‑‑ how are you supposed to attempt to place the ball when you’re not sure it’s moved in the first place? It’s just a harsh one.
“(Rules official) John Paramor said the second you have any doubt, you need to call one of the guys in, because they can obviously try to guide you through it a little bit. It’s hard. It’s hard.
“You know, when you put these Hi‑Def cameras and balls are moving by dimples, and there’s a few guys that have got on the wrong side of that rule, and it’s harsh, and it’s there for everyone’s protection.”
Plus, it sounds like McDowell couldn’t have done anything to prevent the ball from moving. Sure, hit it in the fairway next time, but I don’t think it’s fair to penalize a player for the ball oscillating since it was out of his control. It’s enough of a penalty to have to play from the bushes, which is already costing him a stroke.
Here’s what G-Mac had to say via his Twitter feed:
Disappointing finish today. 2 shot penalty on the last. Attempting to check out my lie in trees I caused ball to move from 6 feet away#fb
— Graeme McDowell (@Graeme_McDowell) May 24, 2012
Ball resting on a load of branches which turned out to be all connected. As I approached the ball the whole area moved and nudged ball#fb
— Graeme McDowell (@Graeme_McDowell) May 24, 2012
I got a shot penalty for moving it and another one retrospectively for not replacing it (I wasn’t positive at time that I had moved it)#fb
— Graeme McDowell (@Graeme_McDowell) May 24, 2012
In hindsight I should have called the ref right away and not asked for TV confirmation after I had chipped it out. Live and learn#golow#fb
— Graeme McDowell (@Graeme_McDowell) May 24, 2012
Two penalty strokes are quite costly in more than one sense, but good news is McDowell called an official over to resolve it before signing his scorecard — otherwise, he would have been disqualified — so at least he has the second round to make up the lost ground and hopefully squeeze inside the cut line.
Update: Thanks to Commenter Lone Golfer for the YouTube clip, via GeoffShackelford. The cameras are definitely high-def and zoomed in at the ball. From G-Mac’s angle, I’m betting you couldn’t see that. May have thought it was the branches. Or since it only may have slightly moved, but didn’t seem to alter it’s original position, he didn’t think it would be a penalty…
Stephanie:
Everytime you post about golf rules, you always try to discredit them. Instead of this, you should (as should the majority of amateur and professional golfers) try to study and understand them because, from your ignorance, the only thing you’re promoting is cheating. BTW, a ball that oscillates, under Decision 18/2, is not the same as a ball that moves. The video is very clear, and it’s not in slow motion nor Hi-Def.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ttm8LsuHkNo&feature
It’s a stupid rule. The player did not try to improve his lie. Intent should definitely be considered, though it isn’t now.
And show some respect to the person whose blog you are commenting on! Golf is a game of respect and you don’t earn any by calling the blog’s owner ignorant and a cheat.
@Steve, thanks for the support.
@LoneGolfer: I’ve had the Rules of Golf impressed in my brain since I was 13 (some of which I’ve lost since I haven’t had to apply them in almost a decade), so I actually know them quite well (credit the WJGA and AJGA).
I probably sympathize with the player who gets on the bad side of them because I’ve called a few penalties on myself (most notably when my ball moved when it was on a steep downhill slope on a very, very fast green during a big event — the “Webb Simpson” rule — which I remember vividly and in detail because I know I didn’t come near to touching the ball, nor had i grounded my club, but I had set up technically and since the greens were so FAST and my ball on a downhill slope, I had cautiously approached it, yet it still moved, not because I touched it or caused it but because the speed of the greens and gravity…end rant. I know I’ve also called a penalty on myself similar to G-Mac’s situation. Where my ball was in some pine straw and it wasn’t very stable. Almost exact same situation where I was 6 feet away, blah blah. This all happened at least 10-15 years ago. I accepted the penalty well because I understood it was a Rule — which despite your assumption — I took very seriously in competition. (More kudos to the AJGA — speaking of which, their amazing slow play policy was very effective because they did put the fear of God in you when your group was put on the clock, but it was obnoxious when it was one player and everyone knew that…anyway, the AJGA is a excellent training ground…on the other hand, in college golf, my god, 5.5 hours was FAST. I started bringing my study guides out on the course with me because NCAA Regionals was always held during finals or right before…and the rounds were so long that it was cutting into my necessary study time. You can imagine what my focus was like…but I digress…sorry for rambling, it’s late here…or early…)
That said, it’s also important to know the rules because you can use them to your advantage or they work in your favor at times, too.
Wait, @LoneGolfer, is this scenario “cheating”? Let’s say, there’s a sprinkler head that interferes with my stance — allowing me to take relief from the nearest point and a club length from there no closer to the hole — and I had caught a bad break because my ball was in a divot, not to mention I would have had an awkward, difficult stance on a downhill slope…Well, now that I get a relief, I have a better lie and stance since there’s a flat area within a club length from my nearest point of relief …(Sorry, hope that all made sense…) I can list other examples if you’d like, but I think you get the point. And of course that’s not cheating, but I’m improving my lie, thanks to the rules! Hmm…
Obviously, I am fully aware that knowing the Rules of Golf is favorable and every pro should at least know the basic ones (as G-Mac says, there are so many idiosyncrasies that it’s impossible to know EVERY SINGLE DECISION)… and be able to take relief or make a drop without having their hand held by a rules official, but I understand why they’d call one in if it’s not completely straightforward or if there’s any doubt, just to be safe.
“Cheating” is a strong word. How is Graeme’s ball accidentally moving when he’s 10 feet away from the ball without improving his lie “cheating”? Cheating comes with “intent.” If you can’t prove intent — generally speaking, in any rule — then in my opinion, you have no case. Graeme obviously wasn’t trying to improve his lie to an advantageous position.
/end rant
Good Rant
Golf is my passion and playing by the rules is huge to me. However so many of these rules are ridiculous. Clearly it didn’t imove his lie. And how legit is it that G Mac called himself out. Dude is a class act.
Oh and Stephanie, your hot…
My new fave golf blog. Keep it up
I disagree that there is nothing he could have done about it. He could have called over the rules official and then marked the ball placement before confirming it was his ball.
It is clearly not cheating, that is a laughable comment. But it is a rule, and therefore it must be enforced, even if it is a bad one. Kudos to him for accepting his penalty like an adult, instead of acting like a petulant child (cough, Morgan Pressel, cough).
Summoning a rules official for every drop or interpretation seems a bit much. Maybe the players need to make the call based on their command (hopefully) of the rules, and if they are wrong, they get penalized. I did take in NCAA regionals last week. Pace of play was a shade over 4 hours. Not too bad considering the kids are packing their own bags, although playing without caddies does eliminate the endless preshot discusssions prevalent on tour. They have lasers and move very quickly to their next shot. They do grind on the greens, however, a real problem at all levels. What’s up with all the tedious marking and remarking? Wasn’t there an old rule that restricted this?
Stephanie,
The problem here is that is that we can’t objectively and universally measure “intent”. In this case it seems absolutely clear that Graeme didn’t intend to move the ball, but the rest of the field aren’t there to judge the situation, and rely on the rules to be the arbiter.
Seems harsh clearly, but if you add the words “if the player intended to move the ball”‘ to the rule, it would open up minefield of interpretation. Sure, golfers are mostly a very honest bunch but ….
Thanks for the blog, always enjoy your insights.
Yah, throw the rules out the window. Had Johnson had a one stroke lead instead of three when he gaffed on the 18th green, I am sure there would be some complaining even more about rules.
The bottom line is that the rule states it can not be moved. This ball definitely did move. It rotated and came to rest in a different position. A ball oscillates if it rotates and comes to rest in the same exact position. If in the act of identifying the ball it moves, the player is deemed to have moved it. He is not cheating, he is just in violation of a rule, there is a difference. As far as the rule being called stupid, that is an ignorant statement. The rule is pure in its purpose, to prevent a player from improving his lie. In this case Mr. McDowell was not careful enough when he approached his ball that was lying on a bed of sticks and by his admission caused the ball to move.
While I don’t think this blogger is ignorant by any means, I feel that she should consider removing the emotional involvement that we all feel in questioning whether Mr. McDowell deserved a penalty. The answer to that is no, he did not do anything that deserved a penalty. However a rule was violated and therefore he HAS to be given a penalty.
Fred couples should have had a 2 shot penalty in 1992 on 12th hole at Augusta. He cooped a ball out of the water and chipped it back in while his own ball was on the green.
[...] Playing his opening round of the BMW Championship at Wentworth this week, McDowell went trudging into the bushes to find his ball on the controversial 18th hole. As he wandered in, he trod on a stick which appeared to move his golf ball. McDowell noticed something move despite being a good few feet away from his ball, but decided to just go ahead and play the shot. It wasn’t until after he had played his shot he called over a rules official and asked him to check the footage to see if his ball had moved. According to rule 18-2 in the Rules of Golf, if his ball had moved, it would be a penalty stroke, and a second for not replacing it before he played the shot. If the ball had simply oscillated in its initial position, there would be no penalty. Unluckily for McDowell, the TV footage makes it reasonably clear that the ball did move rather than wobble ,and his one-over par 71 quickly became a three-over par 73. h/t Wei Under Par [...]