Did Charley Hoffman Break the Rules at The Barclays?
by Ryan Ballengee on Sep 1, 2009 1:08 PM EDT
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PrintReader John sent me a link to a thread over at The Hacker's Paradise about a rules situation facing Charley Hoffman at Liberty National. Here's the gist of it:
Hoffman hit a bad second shot that came up short of the green in one of those tightly mowed bowls below the green. He tried to hit a wedge up to the hole but stubbed it short onto the green's false front. Hoffman was furious and whacked the ground with his wedge which sent a big divot flying in two pieces into the air. One of the divots landed behind his ball which by this time was already rolling backward towards Hoffman - back down into the bowl...except the ball hit the divot and stopped. The Tour was playing lift, clean and place so Hoffman just marked his ball where it was - jammed up against this divot he had hit there - and then threw the divot away. His caddy cleaned the ball and he replaced it.
Well, that should have been a penalty stroke. As a reader noted, the USGA would tell Hoffman that he violated rule 19-2. Looking under decision 9 associated with that rule:
Q. A player has a short pitch shot to the green. He makes a stroke and, while the ball is still in motion, he makes a subsequent swing and takes a divot out of the ground with his club. The divot deflects or stops the moving ball. What is the ruling?
A. The player is deemed to have accidentally deflected or stopped his ball in motion. He incurs a penalty of one stroke and must play the ball as it lies (Rule 19-2). (New)
Assuming the story is 100% accurante, because Charley did NOT take the penalty stroke he then should be disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard.
UPDATE: Our friends at the PGA Tour dropped me a line to give us the results of their investigation. They found that Charley didn't break the rules and had no conclusive evidence to contradict that. Therefore, no penalty for Charley.
Like the tuna fish commerical: Sorry, Charley.
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did he CHEAT ? Beats me – that would require intent and knowldege of the rule.
Did he break a rule ? Like you said – IF the story was correctly told – it sure sounds like it.
It also means that the guy he was playing with didn’t know the rule, either, or he would have questioned the number Hoffman gave him after the hole or in the scorer’s tent.
Didn’t the PGA Tour install a “closed book” rule where things like this stand once the officials close the books on the tournament ?
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
I think so, but I’m not sure on that one.
Email me any comments or questions at ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com.
by Ryan Ballengee on Sep 1, 2009 1:41 PM EDT up reply actions
That’s what I thought too, Court.
I doubt Charley intended to break the rules on purpose. That’s a quick way to ruin yourself in pro golf, and while I can’t vouch for his intent or personality, I also think it reasonable to assume he knows better and what’s at stake. Look at Vijay Singh, and how even to this day questions about him come up from time to time. And as I understand it, Singh was innocent of all charges.
I don’t really follow the urban legends on Singh’s accused cheating anymore. I stick with the ones surrounding Monty. :)
Email me any comments or questions at ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com.
by Ryan Ballengee on Sep 1, 2009 2:49 PM EDT up reply actions
Ryan, it’s deeper than urban legend…this has dogged him for years and even today it will come up on xxxGC or network broadcasts.
from SI
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/features/cover/news/2000/04/11/masters/
“Acceptance has been an issue for Singh ever since a nebulous 1985 incident in Jakarta in which he was accused of altering his scorecard in order to make the cut at a tournament, an allegation he denies. At the mention of Singh’s name last week one American Ryder Cupper sniffed, “Once a cheater, always a cheater. Golf has a long memory.”
by Charles Boyer on Sep 1, 2009 3:32 PM EDT up reply actions
And leave it to SI to twist the knife whenever possible.
Golf may have a long memory – but it is selective. If it was a truly honest memory, Paul Azinger would still have to run around with his head down for his incident at Q-school where he wiffed a putt, but didn’t count the stroke that would have put him outside the cut line for cards.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
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