COMMUNITY

No they shouldn't. If you suck at golf and can't break 100, you don't have the right to call in and report a possible violation because you saw it through the magic of high definition television versus a rules official who wouldn't have been able to see it live. Imagine if we could call in to Roger Goodell during NFL games to report a possible flag that wasn't flagged or protest something that was flagged! My Broncos would have beaten the Ravens in the divisional round! I say a lot that the best thing about golf is that referees can't dictate the outcome of the event. Armchair rules officials get in the way of that, which is terribly sad.

It still amazes me in this day and age of instant media that phone calls and texts are still taken. You would think with all the cameras about the course, rules infractions would be caught much more quickly. What shocked me yesterday during the explanation was not the fact that a phone call came in but it was made directly to Augusta National. As per Fred Ridley, these phone calls have routinely come in over the years and are acted upon. That being said I don't understand the confusion that took place and the debacle which followed.

Look how many penalties were imposed over the past ten years by viewers calling in. If this was not allowed, the outcomes of many tournaments would have been changed by players violating the rules of golf, knowingly or not. Is this the type of game you want? How would you feel if someone won the Masters today, committing an infraction along the way which was witnessed by 70M viewers worldwide? What would that do for the long-term belief that golf is different from other sports. The HDTV rule has been implemented to protect players from infractions that are barely perceptible. If a viewer sees a player breaking a rule (or worse) they should call it in.

A lot of tournaments before the 1990's would be affected by rules infractions that weren't called in by armchair rules officials. I'm fine with that and I'd be able to live in the future if Adam Scott won today, but no one noticed on the 7th hole when he grounded his putter the ball moved half a millimeter. That wouldn't bother me.

You missed the point entirely. It's not that no one noticed, it's that 70M viewers may have noticed. And if you're comfortable with that, you must also be ok when an official blows a call that costs someone a Super Bowl.

By the way, viewers were calling in before the 1990's. Just ask Craig Stadler.

The officials of the game is the real issue. Are they qualified? What are there qualifications? What are the qualifications to be a PGA official? Are these paid positions? Should the officials be paid? Who veted the officials? Are the PGA contest staffed with sufficient PGA officials to do the job? Why was the infraction not properly identified at the moment it took place?

As in most cases a root cause analysis can determine the what, when, where, how, and why. Then, a fix for the findings is applied and sustaned. That could certainly help eliminate the need of arm chair officials with hi-def TV and the need to gather info from conversations given to television interviewers after a player has completed a round of championship golf.

Mike, I can't believe this is your stance on this situation. No way in hell should people be calling in to expose a player to rule infractions. The problem is NOT ALL players are viewed constantly on TV to make it equal. Then you have viewers that have a partiality to players of like or dislike. So one thinks Pro players should know all the rules? Really? Your a Professional in construction. Do you know your building code book from front to back? Highly doubt it! The ones that say they know it all, are usually the fraudulent ones. These guys are going to make mistakes. They are human. But to have callers sitting at home with a vendetta against a particular player, calling in after looking up a golf ruling on the internet, is ridiculous at best. What other sport does this? None! The bottom line is once the tee sheet is made for the next round, the previous round should remain final. If whom ever wins today makes a rules violation caught by someone come Monday that calls in, should they be removed from being the champion? Maybe through someone reviewing the tournament finds that a ball moved so much as a fraction after they addressed the ball? Whatever it is, where does it end? There must be a point the score is final after every round.

One of the things our sport has going for it that many others do not is personal integrity is expected.

Consider the difference between professional golf, where players are expected and DO call penalties on themselves and the NBA where players are constantly trying to trick the referees and the referees call a game that varies by player and team and bears little resemblence to the actual rules of the game.

My guess is most of you have come close to popping an artery yelling at the NBA players and refs. Integrity??? No where to be found.

Great thoughts.

One question I have, having not seen it anywhere in any of the posts regarding this issue, what about Tiger's caddie? Does he bare some responsibility for Tiger making an illegal drop? Surely one of them must have known.

Absolutely Tiger's caddie should share the blame. He was caught sleeping and it cost them!

CO,

I have to disagree with you on this one. The fans, whether it be at the tournament or from a television...they have a vote, regardless of skill. If they see an infraction, it is regardless of skill. Also remember, golf is the only sport where participants can interject when they think there is a penalty on another player...and get a judgement (remember Tiger in Dubai?). I have no issue with call-ins with respect to potential rules violations. BTW, this has has been going on for years...all the way back to Stadler using a towel to hit from his knees. This is not new. Just my thoughts.

No they shouldn't. If you suck at golf and can't break 100, you don't have the right to call in and report a possible violation because you saw it through the magic of high definition television versus a rules official who wouldn't have been able to see it live. Imagine if we could call in to Roger Goodell during NFL games to report a possible flag that wasn't flagged or protest something that was flagged! My Broncos would have beaten the Ravens in the divisional round! I say a lot that the best thing about golf is that referees can't dictate the outcome of the event. Armchair rules officials get in the way of that, which is terribly sad.

A caddy is there to show up, keep up, and shut up. Very few caddies are that fully knowledgeable of the rules. Face it at that point with the mood Tiger was in, would he have listened or even heard LaCava?

I don't think fans should be able to call in penalties. It is not a level playing field because guys like Tiger, Phil, Bubba etc are going to have the cameras on them a lot more than the journeyman type.

I think if it would have been St.Phil in the same situation there would have been way more of outcry that the call was unfair

The rules officials are there for reason, he played his round as approved by the committee. That sort of ties in to the whole long putter/ bifurcation rule. Pros and the rest of us do not play the same game. we don't have people following us around telling us what is and is not OOB/ Waste area/ hazzard or where to drop after water etc.

Because not every shot by every player is on TV, it is unfair to those who are on TV to be held to a higher standard (aka TV viewer input) than those who are not. Have there been rules violations on shots that weren't on TV? Maybe ... we don't know. Can they affect the outcome of a tournament? Maybe.

Golf should be ruled by the players and on-course officials ... not someone sitting comfortably in their easy chair who can watch the replay over and over to find the violation. Golf is a game of honor ... unlike no other. Yes, there will be those who fail to play the game honorably ... but I think they will get their due sometime in their life ... one way of the other.

Out come the Phil haters. (just had to say that for all the "out come the Tiger haters" comments that have been made.) Frankly Phil probably would have DQ'd himself. I think too much has been said and made of this. Tiger goofed, paid a two shot penalty, which very likely cost him the tournament, the officials did not DQ him and though the TV viewer may have initially brought it to the officials attention, no penalty was applied based on what the viewer said, it was based on what Tiger himself said after his round. That is why he got a two shot penalty. Done deal, fair all the way around and Adam Scott won. Great Masters as always.