Harrington disqualified - Irishman punished in Abu Dhabi

[matty]

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12051_6681738,00.html

He takes the DQ pretty well. The ball rolled forward about .5cm when he went to pick his marker up. He bumped his ball with his finger.

A viewer rang up hours after the incident was shown to report it.

[MegaWatty]

This is getting pretty insane. It moved 3 dimples and back 1 1/2. Probably easy to see with Hi Def slow mo but the naked eye may be a different thing.

Ridiculous.

[matty]

Yeah. Like he said in the interview, it was pointless speaking to an official becuase if they asked where the ball was he would have replied 'where it's sitting'.

It's the second time in a few weeks the viewers have gotten players DQ'd. Villegas got done a couple of weeks ago.

[virge666]

****ing insane...

I am all for following the rules - but a lot of sponsors, TV, spectators all just got shafted.

Just bloody stupid.

[TheTrueReview]

I'm getting sick & tired of less than ordinary people looking for 15 micro-seconds of fame by trying to catch out of tour pro with a rules breach.

[Hamo84]

I think it is disgusting that someone would actually ring up to report this.

Isnt this why there are marshall's and officials on the course, let them do their bloody job.

Real shame for Paddy, was playing well so I had heard. Is this 'new swing' of his much different?

[Johnny Canuck]

I've always hated the fact that viewers can call in a report infringements.

[MegaWatty]

“@peterjkostis: Under HD TV scrutiny it is impossible that every player in the field replaced every ball in EXACTLY the same position. World is upside down.”

[MegaWatty]

“@peterjkostis: Next frontier. Super slo-mo replay of every drop with line superimposed from the shoulder to make sure the drop is EXACTLY shoulder high.”

[MegaWatty]

“@peterjkostis: Bet if we try real hard we can get the entire field DQ'd by the 3rd round of every tournament. That will speed up play!”

[MegaWatty]

And another. People aren't happy!

“@IanJamesPoulter: Rules of Golf Book Rule 22-4 paragraph 3 line 7, "the rules of golf are complete bollocks and are stuck back in 1932". Couldn't agree more”

[mike]

Wtf? Are you typing with boxing gloves on?

[mike]

Oh. are they tweets or something?

[MegaWatty]

They are tweets Mike. High five!

[Eag's]

Something needs to be done to prevent these clowns from ringing in full stop. All rulings should come from on the course end of story.

[PeteyD]

Good to see the cheating bastard caught. Can't be enough of it!


Seriously though, who are these people that look for these things and call in. It has happened for a long time. Someone used a towel to stop his pants getting dirty -- ack that is building a stance DQ. Reminds me of the grumpy old blokes that make you play in turn and mark short putts etc etc. Retards.

[Jarro]

Ridiculous !!

[aussieashley]

If it keeps going like this the players won't want so many camera's around and then people will start complaining about the poor coverage.

[goughy]

They need to do something with the rules, or set special rules for the events that stop this happening. Cause it looks like shit. And while we have marshals and rules officials on the course, don't they mostly come into things when asked for a ruling. You don't see them scrutinising things as such do you?

One of the beauties of golf is that in effect it is a self regulating sport. I mean you are your own rules official. How many other sports in the world have this kind of situation? It is one of the things that makes golf different and makes it a gentlemans game (sorry girls, old fashioned statement for an old sport).

[TheNuclearOne]

Lets say Joe Bloggs, one of the lesser lights, has a few boring pars then lights up the course in dramatic fashion to come from the tail to near the top of the leaderboard. Nobodies going to see (Including our rules infraction tv wannabe's) those early holes, and maybe not even the start of his blitz. By contrast a Harrington/Woods et al can be doing absolutely nothing and still have a lot of their round televised.

Are the better players disciminated against per this topic?

I understand a minor rules infringement has obviously happened (possibly totally unknown), but nobody can tell me that out on the back blocks quite a few similar things are going on.

Two high profile highly televised players have been done in just a few weeks, would this have happened if they were nobodies?

[TheTrueReview]

...

Two high profile highly televised players have been done in just a few weeks, would this have happened if they were nobodies?

No.

[PeteyD]

I think the rules nazis would pick up anyone. Of course the nobodies do not get on the telecast.

[Dotty]

In the real world ...
If I was to pull over anyone that didn't give way in a roundabout, fine anyone parking illegally or report everyone who speeds, then I'd be charged with impersonating a police officer, fraud and public nuisance.

Just charge these armchair rules experts with public mischief, bringing the game into disrepute and sporting fraud (as they are influencing the game's outcome).

And the tour can sue them for loss of income, when the sponsors and the public turn away from high-profile tournaments.


It wasn't Spion Kop (from TGF) was it ?

[Yossarian]

It wasn't Thommo breaking the rules so I doubt it.

Agreed that this is getting a little silly.

[raidrboy]

Another bloody arm chair expert strikes again, people like him need to get a life.

[sol381]

cant wait for the rugby league season to start . im going to start ringing up every time theres a forward pass that goes unnoticed.

[TheNuclearOne]

I think the rules nazis would pick up anyone. Of course the nobodies do not get on the telecast.

Exactly.

[TheTrueReview]

It appeared to me that if anything the ball 'oscillated' but did not move from its original position. Given the circumstances the rules officials should be able to exercise discretion & give Harrington the benefit of the doubt.

[Daves]

Am I right in thinking that if Harrington has remarked his ball and placed it again (correctly of course), he would have absolved the potential breach?

[MegaWatty]

Am I right in thinking that if Harrington has remarked his ball and placed it again (correctly of course), he would have absolved the potential breach?

Yes.

[Hamo84]

fox not showing this live tonight? replays of the tennis more important?

[MegaWatty]

USGA and R and A having a chat about the rules.

http://tinyurl.com/65b5yh3

[MegaWatty]

Just caught the end of a discussion on PGA Network Radio that they are changing the rules as of Day 1 of The Masters that if something happens like this or Camillo and they are informed about it later. Google found this for me.

A new ruling will prevent future situations like the one Padraig Harrington experienced back in Abu Dhabi in January.

Golf's governing bodies have agreed on the change, set to take effect for the Masters this week, announcing a new interpretation to apply "in limited circumstances not previously contemplated", where disqualifications have occured after advanced video technologies revealed rules transgressions.

Back in January, Padraig Harrington was disqualified after an alert TV viewer notified rules officials that he had seen Harrington's ball move slightly after being marked on the green.

Because Harrington had already signed his scorecard, a two-stroke penalty could no longer apply, and he was disqualified.

The new rule, however, prevents a player from being that severely punished if he could not reasonably have discovered his error prior to returning his scorecard.

With video technology becoming more and more advanced, rules officials had to take into account that it could potentially pick up transgressions which a player himself might not notice at the time.

The player would still receive the two-stroke penalty in such a case, but will no longer be disqualified for signing his card.

Peter Dawson, R&A chief executive, said: "For some time we have been concerned that, in certain limited circumstances, disproportionate disqualification penalties have been required by the rules.

"This carefully considered decision reflects our desire to ensure that the rules of golf remain fair and relevant in the changing environment in which the game is played today."


I tip my hat.

[TourFit]

WTF? A common sense rule! What's goin' on?

[goughy]

A better idea would be if a person rings up and says I saw so and so happen during the replay on TV of which tournament, the pga would respond with 'go and get an f'n life ya douch bag! Haven't you got something better to do? Are you Ned Flanders?'

[TheTrueReview]

The new rule is out. Here is the release:

THE R&A AND USGA REVISE DECISION REGARDING DISQUALIFICATION FOR INCORRECT SCORE CARD
7 April 2011, St Andrews, Scotland:The R&A and the USGA have announced a new interpretation of the Rules that apply in limited circumstances not previously contemplated by the Rules of Golf where disqualifications have been caused by score card errors identified as the result of recent advances in video technologies.

This revision to Decision 33-7/4.5 addresses the situation where a player is not aware he has breached a Rule because of facts that he did not know and could not reasonably have discovered prior to returning his score card. Under this revised decision and at the discretion of the Committee, the player still receives the penalty associated with the breach of the underlying Rule, but is not disqualified.

In revising the decision, The R&A and the USGA confirm that the disqualification penalty still applies for score card breaches that arise from ignorance of the Rules of Golf. As such, this decision reinforces that it is still the responsibility of the player to know the Rules, while recognising that there may be some rare situations where it is reasonable that a player is unaware of the factual circumstances of a breach.

This revision to Decision 33-7/4.5 is effective immediately.

“For some time we have been concerned that, in certain limited circumstances, disproportionate disqualification penalties have been required by the Rules,” said Peter Dawson, Chief Executive of The R&A. “This carefully considered decision reflects our desire to ensure that the Rules of Golf remain fair and relevant in the changing environment in which the game is played today.”

“This is a logical and important step in our re-evaluation of the impact of high-definition video on the game,” said Mike Davis, executive director of the USGA. “We collectively believe that this revised decision addresses many video-related issues never contemplated by the Rules of Golf.”

[virge666]

Excellent move !

[IanO]

About time :smt038