Friday, January 7, 2011

PGA Tour: Another Rules Violation

Camillo Villegas learned Rule 23-1 the hard way today at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. Yesterday, during the first round and on the 15th hole, Villegas was attempting a pitch and up up a steep slope (for the second time) and when the ball started rolling back down toward where he had just played from, he flicked away a piece of a divot, a loose impediment, with his club. From the USGA Rules of Golf, under Rule 23-1: "when a ball is in motion, a loose impediment that might influence the movement of the ball must not be removed." A TV viewer notified the PGA Tour (I always wonder how they do this, is there a "rules hotline" for the Tour?)



Villegas was notified by Tour officials when he arrived for his 2nd round today in the first PGA Tournament of 2011, at Kapalua's Plantation Course on the island of Maui. The penalty is only 1 stroke, but since it was not applied before Villegas signed his score card yesterday, the penalty became a DQ for signing an incorrect score card.

2 comments:

  1. I'm wondering why a rules official didn't catch the penalty when it happened; therefore, saving Villegas from being DQ-ed and just taking the 1 stroke penalty. If I were Camillo, I would sue his rules official, and get his entry fee back.

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  2. at the least, the rules should only be applied by those officials at the event -- when do the rules stop being applied to a round -- midnight of the tournament, before the next round begins, before Wednesday, noon? is there no end to when you could be stripped of your win for some near meaningless event?

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