I don't blog about golf often. Mainly because I generally try to stay away from the sports that I don't follow or aren't that familiar with. But today I'm making an exception. Because I heard some golf news the other day that was long overdue and very welcome.
Starting next year, the professional tours will no longer enforce rules violations called in by fans watching the event at home. Instead, they'll have an on-site video replay official like they do in virtually every other sport. And that official will have the final word on whether or not there was a violation. No more taking calls from some schmo sitting on his couch and penalizing a player after the fact.
In other words, after not using any for way too long, they're finally going to use common sense when it comes to rules enforcement. It's a decision that was a long time coming, and I applaud golf, which is pretty resistant to change, for making it. Although, frankly, what took so long?
Seriously, what other sport penalizes players for something some random dude noticed on TV? Why did they even pick up the phone when these schmucks called? If it's not something you can see live with the naked eye, it shouldn't be a penalty. Plain and simple. And you certainly shouldn't be taking the word of some guy who saw it on TV, after rewinding his DVR how many times? (Do these people seriously not have anything better to do?)
Likewise, if you're going to penalize a player, they should know about it. It's especially unfair to penalize them after the fact. This really came to the forefront earlier this year when Lexi Thompson ended up losing a major championship because of a four-stroke penalty, two for the violation, two more for signing an incorrect scorecard that wasn't incorrect at the time (because the penalty hadn't been enforced yet). Everyone agreed that wasn't right, and it was likely the last straw that was the impetus for a much-needed change.
There was another extremely stupid element about the ability of fans to call in violations that has now been eliminated. It really only affected the top players. They don't show everybody. They only show the players people care about. So, Tiger Woods (provided he ever actually plays in a tournament) is more likely to be seen on TV than the guy who finishes his round before the TV coverage even begins, and thus more likely to be caught by the rules police. Doesn't seem right to me.
That guy could just as easily commit a violation, only no one would be able to call it in because they didn't see it. And that's where that was a problem. If it doesn't apply to everybody, it shouldn't apply to anyone. There shouldn't be selective enforcement of the rules just because certain players are more popular or more competitive.
It's kinda like the early days of instant replay in tennis. Tennis only has instant replay on the TV courts. Top players like Roger Federer and Serena Williams play all of their matches on the TV courts. Which means they have instant replay for all of their matches. That qualifier who they play in the first round of Wimbledon or the US Open doesn't.
The difference in tennis, of course, is that they're gaining the benefit of instant replay instead of being negatively impacted by it. It should be the same in golf. I'm not saying that they shouldn't have replay or that they shouldn't use it to correct errors that they missed. But whether or not they missed an error should be up to an official. Not a dude watching on TV.
A fan watching on TV should be simply that. A fan watching on TV. And a fan watching on TV shouldn't have the ability to impact a tournament. For too long, golf let that happen. Fortunately, that will no longer be the case. It's about time.
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