And you thought that one-shot penalty to Tinglang Guan for slow play Friday at the Masters was big news . . .
Tiger Woods was hit with a two-shot penalty this morning for a violation of the rules during Friday’s round when he took a drop that didn’t seem to meet the standards of the rules of golf. Woods, after his round, admitted he took a drop two paces behind where he had hit his original third shot on the 15th hole, a shot that ended up in a lake. The rules say you must drop as near to the spot the ball was first hit. Two paces back was not as near as he could get.
Under the rule as it was two years ago, Woods would then have signed an incorrect scorecard and would have been disqualified. But the rules were changed because so many players were being DQed after someone called after watching a super slo-motion replay of a shot, something that players don’t get to see. And because only top players are on television, no one would ever call to DQ someone who was 14 shots off the lead. So the rule was changed to give “the committee” the ability to just hand out the two-shot penalty and not DQ a player of the player was not aware of the penalty.
In this case, the folks at the Masters say they reviewed the drop before Woods finished the round and cleared him. Only when Woods mentioned the two paces after signing the scorecard did the issue come up again. But the committee is saying that they allowed Woods to sign a card that might ended up being incorrect by clearing him originally, so it’s not Woods fault, so he shouldn’t be DQed. But there are calls on social media for Woods to withdraw because he admits to the two paces.
Woods is now five shots off the pace instead of three shots and it tied for 19th, not tied for seventh.
Oh, Happy Masters Saturday.
