You may have heard the expression “ the law is an ass”. It came to being as a reference to the application of a law contrary to common sense.
After the LPGA ruling over the weekend involving Lexi Thompson it appears the law has some company.
If you haven’t heard by now, a viewer saw Thompson violate a rule at the ANA Inspiration in Rancho Mirage, California. So this person emailed the tour to let them know. Why on earth they decided to stick their nose in there is beyond me but they did and it cost Thompson some cash and likely a major win on the LPGA tour.
The evil deed? She marked her ball, then replaced her ball about an inch away from where it originally sat. Yep, that is against the rules and had she , one of her playing partners, one of the caddies or any number of tournament officials watching caught it, then all would have been settled then and no problem.
The problem is however, this all happened during round three and at the speed of a glacier the tour notified Lexi on the 12th hole THE NEXT DAY!
It cost her two strokes for the violation and another two for signing an incorrect scorecard as she didn’t penalize herself on Saturday. She went from a two stroke lead to trailing by two. Lexi fought back the tears and fought back on the course as she went to a playoff, only to lose.
The timing was pathetic. Almost as pathetic as the fact some schlub sitting on the couch made the choice to get involved and affected the outcome.
I get it ! Lexi broke a rule and should have been penalized but my point would be, she should be penalized by people who were right on the scene at the time of the violation and not by someone who was miles away and had to scrutinize the video like a CSI employee to see if she did break the rule. It was not done to gain any advantage but simply a mental mistake. Golfers are the only athletes I can think of who penalize themselves, even if nobody else saw the infraction.
It’s time we took video out of the equation in golf and most certainly not allow fans of the sport to be able to call in on a rule. No other sport does that and golf shouldn’t either.
High profile players like Thompson are at a significant disadvantage in this area as there always seems to be a camera on them while so many others play the same course without Big Brother watching them.
If you have to watch a video magnified by the Hubble telescope in order to see what went against the rule then you have to think it really didn’t make a difference in the big picture.
The governing bodies of golf need to give their collective heads a shake and send video deep into the bush along with taking phone calls from viewers to prosecute players.
Get on it golf! No time like the present.
