Tuesday Rules

Big day in our little world, so let's get to it....

Lexi Gets Results - Apparently all of the street marching with the "Free Lexi signs has had effect:

SOUTHPORT, England – The R&A and USGA will announce a change to the Rules of Golf on Tuesday that is expected to ensure a Lexi Thompson situation does not crop up

in the future. 

The governing bodies met at Augusta National during the Masters, where Lexi Thompson’s controversial four-shot penalty during the ANA Inspiration was discussed at great length.

R&A officials refused to comment on the upcoming announcement at a media day at Royal Birkdale ahead of this year’s Open Championship. However, Golfweek understands the governing bodies will implement a decision Tuesday with immediate effect to make sure no player goes through the same experience as Thompson. 

The governing bodies could rule that TV viewers cannot call in rules infractions. Alternatively, they could decree that no retrospective penalties can be added once a scorecard has been signed.

That's not a particularly good summation of the options, so let's let Ryan Herrington will out the menu:

The changes also might include an early implementation of a proposed Rules change where “the player’s reasonable judgement would be upheld even if later shown to be wrong by other information [such as video technology].” This proposal was part of a larger rules modernization plan that the USGA and R&A had announced in March that would potentially got into effect in 2019. 

Another issue potentially to be addressed on Tuesday is whether certain penalties can be assessed after a player’s scorecard has been signed and/or a stipulated round has been finished.

OK, and you might want to read Shack's take here.  Give the direction they were headed, it seems that "reasonable judgement" bit should be the odds on favorite, requiring them only to accelerate that which they had proposed.  You're no doubt tired of hearing me say this, but does that let Lexi off the hook?  There's judgment involved in deciding one's nearest point of relief, but in marking and replacing the ball?

And Ryan's second part is really a two-parter, no?  There's the issue of whether there is a finite conclusion to a round, but also the issue of whether we'll penalize for the inaccurate scorecard.... It seems obvious to this observer that if we're relying on the player's judgement, then there shouldn't be a pile-on for the John Hancock....

But as I continue to think about these issues, I'm also quite surprised by the passivity of the Tours.  They remain free to define the rules of competition as they see fit, and yet Mike Whan would tell you that his officials had no choice in the matter....  I think they've been wise to adhere to USGA rules, something that was discussed quite a bit in the lead-up to the anchoring ban, but televised golf is an area that affects them quite directly.  Not only do they act as sheep, but they've been quite negligent in using the technology to administer the rules themselves.

Credit to the two rules-making organizations, who at least are now showing some responsiveness, in this and the DJ ball-moving issue from Oakmont.  Late for sure to the party, but at least no longer a permanent immovable obstruction....

My vote for stupidest silliest article on this subject goes to Randall Mell, who thinks Lexi herself has some 'splainin' to do:

Lexi Thompson’s agent asked the LPGA in strong terms for a “true and transparent

accounting” of the details of the viewer’s intervention that impacted the outcome of the ANA Inspiration three weeks ago. 

That goes both ways. 

When Thompson meets the media for the first time since a four-shot penalty derailed her chance at winning a second major championship, there will be an accounting due there, too. She’s scheduled for a pretournament news conference in suburban Dallas on Wednesday at the Volunteers of America Texas Shootout. 

It will be the first time Thompson gets to fully explain what she was seeing and thinking as she marked her ball in the infraction in question at the 17th hole of Saturday’s third round.

Really?  Because I'm thinking she's about the least interesting player in the drama, as the victim often is.  So whatcha got that she needs to answer?

After seeing replays, does she agree she committed an infraction?  Or does she think there may be some optical illusion created in the nature of the camerawork?

OK, fair enough, but it's all Tiger's fault.  If you'll recall, Tiger's 2015 season included three major rules dust-ups, the last of which happened at the BMW, when he moved a twig and caused his ball to move.  Admittedly, you couldn't see the ball move except in slow-mo replays, but move it did.  Tiger churlishly refused to concede the point, maintaining that it was an optical illusion.... Like Lexigate, that shed no light on the underlying facts, though it was an interesting insight into his mind set.

To be clear, it was a horrible marking of her ball and it was worthy of the penalty, setting aside the issue of it being assessed twenty-four hours later and the two stroke pile-on for the scorecard.

And why did she come in from the side of the ball to mark it?

It's pretty obvious that she stepped in from the side intending to hole out, and then awkwardly marked her ball.  She may not even be aware of why, but Mell goes down the briar patch of intent, which seems unnecessary to this observer....  There's no reason to consider it anything but sloppy but, as Phil reminded, the issue has importance above and beyond Lexi.  

Nobody thinks what happened to Lexi was fair, but there's a whole range of opinions within that catchall category....  We'll just have to wait and see what our betters decide.

Shouldn't They Understand Golf - It's been a really strange few weeks at Golf.com, but see if you spot the issue with this come-on?

No stroke play? No problem! Here's everything you need to know about the new Zurich Classic format

Ummm guys, it's a stroke-play event....  There's only two types of golf, stroke and match play, and this week is very much the former...  Yes, it's a team event, but I really shouldn't need to explain this to Golf Magazine, should I?

Here they double down:

The 2017 edition of the tournament will be a two-man team event, with two rounds each of foursome and four-ball play. This is the first time the Zurich Classic won't be a stroke-play event.

Really?  I'm going to say this very slowly so I hope you can follow, it's the first time it's not an i-n-d-i-v-i-d-u-a-l stroke play event....

They do at least answer one question I had:

4. WHAT'S AT STAKE

In addition to divvying up the $7.2 million purse, both teammates will earn a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour and be eligible for invitational events like the Players Championship and the Tournament of Champions. 

Each player will also receive FedEx Cup points by combining every two positions from the official FedEx Cup point list and splitting them evenly. For example, the winner of the event would receive 500 points and the runner-up 300, so each player on the winning team will receive 400 points (half of the total 800 from first and second; the prize money will be split the same way).

All Things Rory - Sorry Erica, but you're definitely the warm-up act at this wedding.... In terms of the Coldplay v. Van the Man debate, Rory and Erica opted for None of the Above:

According to E! News, some music royalty (both old and young) performed on the special day. Stevie Wonder is believed to have played during the couple's ceremony,

while Ed Sheeran put on a show during the reception. Not a bad one-two punch.

Other celebrities at Ireland's Ashford Castle on Saturday included musician Niall Horan, actor Jamie Dornan, and Coldplay's Chris Martin. 

And yes, there were golfers there as well. Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington, Shane Lowry and Paul McGinley were in attendance, reports The Belfast Telegraph, which also has a few pictures of guests leaving the wedding.

I do hope they danced to For Once in My Life....  But can anyone clue me in as to who this Ed Sheeran might be?  I've never heard the name, though this link might suggest we'd get on:

RELATED: Why Ed Sheeran once smashed Justin Bieber in the face with a golf club

I don't need an explanation, just video....

 The there's this:

Rory McIlroy, Erica Stoll honeymoon at $14,000-a-night Caribbean resort

Don't worry about the extravagance, he's got a good job....

Golf and the Real World -  Only very occasionally does the real world intrude upon our pleasant pastime, but this one is uglier than most...  The round-belly tour with the silly name held their annual event in Boca Raton recently, and controversy ensued:

BOCA RATON, Fla. - Holocaust survivors on Monday celebrated the end of German

insurance giant Allianz's sponsorship of a Florida pro golf tournament, saying it may boost efforts to collect some $2.5 billion in World War II-era policies issued to Jews that they say have gone unpaid. 

Survivors, their heirs and Jewish groups for seven years have protested the company's sponsorship of the PGA senior tour's Allianz Championship in Boca Raton, saying it failed to pay off policies of tens of thousands of Holocaust victims and other Jews who died under Nazi rule. 

They say the company has demanded death certificates, which the Nazis didn't issue to concentration camp victims, and copies of policies lost during wartime upheaval. 

Monday was Holocaust Remembrance Day.

One feels horribly for the folks involved, and we all know how horribly the insurance companies and banks acted in the aftermath.  I can't say that I see how this helps their cause, but I'm somewhat relieved to have our ties to this institution ended.

Why Not The Best?  - Lydia gets her man, and I'm sure all will be right with the world:

Rolex world No. 1 Lydia Ko has found her next caddie. 

Ko plans to tee it up at this week’s Volunteers of America Texas Shootout with Peter Godfrey as her caddie, GolfChannel.com has learned. 

Godfrey was voted the 2017 Caddie of the Year by his LPGA peers at the HSBC Women’s Champions back in March. He was on Ha Na Jang’s bag at the time.

Is anyone else amused that such an award exists?  Everyone seems obsessed with the number of loopers she's run through, though of course they're including those that had week-to-week arrangements.  To me there's actually two more interesting nuggets:

Ko is crossing paths with Ariya Jutanugarn yet again with this hire. Godfrey was on Jutanugarn’s bag when she won the Ricoh Women’s British Open last summer. This offseason, Ko named Gary Gilchrist her coach. Gilchrist has been working with Jutanugarn for more than a year. 

Ko and Jutanugarn have a lot of common ties. They also share an agent, IMG’s Michael Yim.

In order of importance, the intertwining of Lydia's team with that of Ariya's is most curious, given that one expects the two youngsters to be competing against each other for years to come.

Secondly, the LPGA's Caddie of the Year seems to get fired quite often, no?  I count two and, if recent history is guide, it'll be three fairly soon.