Today, Rickie Fowler, You Are a Professional Golfer
by courtgolf on Nov 13, 2009 4:28 PM EST
9 comments
No, he didn't clinch his PGA Tour card on the money list, don't be silly, it's just Friday. What he DID do, however, was call an official for one of the simplest rules violations in the game of golf.
On the 4th hole, his 12th of the day, Fowler missed the green with his second shot, then set up to pitch onto the green. As he was setting up, his club touched he grass, causing his ball to sink down into the grass - a one stroke penalty, and the ball must be replaced as near as possible to the ball's original position.
18-2. By Player, Partner, Caddie or Equipmenta. General
When a player's ball is in play, if:
(i) the player, his partner or either of their caddies lifts or moves it, touches it purposely (except with a club in the act of addressing it) or causes it to move except as permitted by a Rule, or
(ii)equipment of the player or his partner causes the ball to move,the player incurs a penalty of one stroke. If the ball is moved, it must be replaced, unless the movement of the ball occurs after the player has begun the stroke or the backward movement of the club for the stroke and the stroke is made.
Rickie then achieves professional status by calling for an official, who was nowhere near the green and had to drive all the way to the 4th green to tell 2.0 the obvious - that he had to add a shot to his scorecard - something I'm sure he already knew, since he called an official. The official had no way to know if Fowler was right about the ball moving...which is why golfers are expected to police themselves for the rules, so all he was doing was slowing down play for the groups behind him.
Adding to the embarrassment were former players Curt Byrum and Jerry Foltz, who announced that Fowler was "given" a one shot penalty by the official. Wrong. Fowler gave himself the penalty, the official just confirmed it.
So welcome to the big time, Rickie, when/if you get your card this week, we'll know that you have the rules game down.
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You'll notice Phil, Tiger, Furyk and
a few others rarely call officials for basic decisions. They know the rules, take the poison and go on.
The exceptions are usually the local rules: Grandstands, Port-a-potties, TV cables, boulders, etc. If you feel an official will give you relief in an instance you might not expect relief, you are foolish not ot take advantage.
Most of these younger pros call an official for casual water, GUR, lateral hazards, etc. – rules we have known for decades.
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by One-Eyed Golfer Guy on Nov 14, 2009 8:39 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Fowler
Ricky called an official because nobody knew definitively the applicable ruling. The ball moved vertically, which is unusual. I venture to say that many players would have given themselves the benefit of the doubt in the same situation. Implying that this situation was routine is naive—at best, conspiratorial at worst. To me it was, at minimum, a character-revealing moment for Fowler, and I was impressed.
Jerry
PS: It’s spelled Curt Byrum
by oneball on Nov 14, 2009 11:30 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
You are probably right – but that is not an excuse. It’s a simple rule that a beginner might not know – but a professional not knowing is inexcusable. All we’re doing here is adding the other players and caddies in his group to the list of guys who need to be in a rules class.
Where did you see Curt Byrum misspelled ?
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
by courtgolf on Nov 15, 2009 10:58 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
It was originally misspelled, but after I saw Jerry’s correction, I went back and edited your story to fix it.
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by Ryan Ballengee on Nov 15, 2009 12:50 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
hmmm….damn typos…thanks Jerry and RB
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
by courtgolf on Nov 15, 2009 12:55 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Jerry, thanks for coming by and commenting. Didn’t see the video myself, but I was wondering if you thought it was kind of like the Kenny Perry situation at the FBR Open?
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by Ryan Ballengee on Nov 15, 2009 10:48 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
sort of…barely…Fowler just brushed the grass and the ball dropped down. it apparently didn’t take much. have to hand it to Fowler and his honesty – you could barely tell that he touched the grass…but HE knew.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
by courtgolf on Nov 15, 2009 3:02 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Only saw video of the Perry incident and while it looked damning, I have way too much respect for Kenny to conclude anything condemning. The two situations were opposite in that it looked like Kenny’s grounding of the club made for a more visible ball, while Ricky never grounded the club and his claim was that the ball might have sunk down a bit. I looked at the lie closely, just before he got to the ball, then saw the video of in on my monitor, then looked at it after he called for an official, and didn’t see anything. The lie looked identical to me. I applaud Ricky for not trying to give himself the benefit of the doubt in that situation where I have seen many other players do the opposite.
by oneball on Nov 17, 2009 10:13 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I could be wrong – maybe Rickey went to the Michelle Wie rules clinic. Watching the women play, Wie’s tee shot at 12 finishes 6 inches onto the cart path. VERY simple – 1 club length from the nearest point of relief… Let’s see – that would be SEVEN INCHES TO THE LEFT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But no – she calls a rules official to tell her….SEVEN INCHES TO THE LEFT, YOU TWIT !!!!!!!!!!!!
That’s ok – the golf gods got her back – letting her bounce her shot off of a tree in front of her.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
by courtgolf on Nov 15, 2009 5:48 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
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