Just for discussion

[boatsandhoes]

dropgate part 2

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/golf-...improper-drop-en-route-players-124525467.html

He still made double there, even with a drop farther back he would have laid up to wedge distance. he still would have salvaged at least a double. You decide.

 

[seshomoru]

This is getting ridiculous.

Woods and Wittenberg called it completely within the rules and by the rules. That's how you play golf. This eye in the sky, let me go back and see it on video stuff is insane. Unless they put a camera on every shot by every player, tough ****. The four people who had the authority to make a decision made it. End of story, play on, get a life Johnny Miller.

 

[goindhoo]

nobody knows but for Tiger, Casey and their caddies. Bunch of bad tv angles doesn't prove anything. They should have had shot tracer on it. I doubt Tiger would be trying to push the rules after the Masters.

 

[Optimus Prime 4]

As Kornheiser said "You can't call the NFL and have them retroactively throw a flag for interference". There's a rules official on every hole. If they don't catch it, it should be over. Just like the Johnson hitting out of a "sand trap" covered in grass a few years ago. Hell, MLB umps didn't know the rules for relief pitchers the other day, and that's their job.

Woods handled this properly. If his partner (and everyone else) agreed, there is no issue here. Stupid.

 

[patdog]

Agreed. This is beyond ridiculous. It's not like he just dropped the ball wherever he wanted to. The 4 people who saw the ball agreed where it should be played. And the rules official on the hole didn't challenge it. End of story.

 

[ckDOG]

I'm still pissed at Tiger for how he handled the Augusta drop.

However, there is no way you can prove what happened with a blimp camera from that angle. You can't use that as an objective way of determining where the ball crossed the hazard. Did they get it exactly right? Probably not, but everyone who was watching agreed that was a good spot. Anyone who has ever played golf knows that it's hard to determine where a ball enters the water, especially on a hazard that runs the length of a fairway. Unless there is an objective way to prove they really 17ed up the spot, blimp cam not being one of those, you can't really ***** at Tiger on this one.

 

[drt7891]

And this is exactly the reason why, except for blatant rules violations, spectators should not be allowed to have ANY input in rules enforcement of any game. Period. We can armchair referee all day, but you have one angle and it's at the mercy of the television crew. You hit the nail on the head, unless they have cameras on every player for every shot, the rules official's ruling should be final.

 

[jacksonreb]

i agree its over and i don't "particularly" fault tiger cause it can be hard to see that line, BUT that said, the blimp shot clearly shows that ball NEVER got to that hazard line. in watching it on tv my first reaction was like one of the commentators.....he's gonna have to drop WAY BACK. but with all that i expect he still would have done no worse than a double cause as someone said he'd have had a shortish wedge in anyway. what i don't think is that tiger deliberately tried to improve the drop spot. any more than i think his blunder at augusta was an intentional breaking of the rule. it was ignorance or a misinterpretation of a vague rule.

 

[jacksonreb]

i thought it interesting that they never showed the blimp angle

again after showing it one time. if you're going to discount it, then fine but you should show it just like you showed the other angles. IMO it clearly showed the ball never reached the hazard line they used. felt to me like they didn't want to add fuel to the fire cause they knew how it looked.

 

[ckDOG]

It looked bad from the blimp angle. Everything looks bad from the blimp.

I also remember watching the replay thinking that he'd have to drop way back as well. But think about the many times you see a golf shot followed by a blimp camera when it's approaching the green. It's almost always disorienting. It never looks as though the ball is going anywhere near the target, then at the last moment, you see the ball drop where it should. I think it's a very misleading camera angle and shouldn't be used at all for concluding where it crossed a hazard line.

 

[Optimus Prime 4]

They also talked about the huge disadvantage Tiger is at here

Since every damn shot of his is on TV. Some scrub could do this ten times a round and no one would ever know.

But this specific case is absolutely nothing.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

Yep. Instant replay for golf is next. They will look it over at every angle and make a ruling and make a slow game even slower.

 

[DAWG61]

The blimp looks to be to the right of the hole or left of it from looking down so the angle is skewed. This is really bad for golf though. They need to be proactive with this and assign an "umpire/rules official" with every group and if that person doesn't call an infraction on the spot then that needs to be the end of it. This whole calling infractions after the fact is beyond absurd. They are nit-picking the 17 out of Tiger now.

 

[TheBigDA]

Can't beat 'em, out cheat 'em. //end of my tiger rants

 

[patdog]

Reviewing anything on TV after the fact is ********. I don't like Tiger, but he should play with the same rules as any qualifier for the tournament does.

 

[ckDOG]

I agree that there's no place for the armchair referees at home.

The blimp looks to be to the right of the hole or left of it from looking down so the angle is skewed. This is really bad for golf though. They need to be proactive with this and assign an "umpire/rules official" with every group and if that person doesn't call an infraction on the spot then that needs to be the end of it. This whole calling infractions after the fact is beyond absurd. They are nit-picking the 17 out of Tiger now.

It's a waste of time. How many folks have actually been penalized for stupid **** though? Tiger hasn't been burned yet by it. Tiger was penalized because of his post round comments at Augusta, not because of a report from a viewer. Dustin Johnson at the Open (?) a couple years back was the highest profile instance I can think of. That was more of an argument about whether or not the area he was in was a hazard or not. I remember watching that live thinking it was strange that he was grounding his club. I think one guy got penalized for moving a leaf on a practice swimg in a hazard also. That's dumb as hell. If you call in to report that, just remove yourself from golf.

They already have rules officials available for any questions or concerns at any time. If there is any doubt, players still have the option of playing provisional balls if for whatever reason they can't get to an official. The system is fine, it's just fans getting attention for being super douches that's the problem.

 

[boatsandhoes]

I think he took the drop too far forward. Like I said, he still made double there. If he dropped farther back then I don't think there is any way he makes worse than that. I don't think it is intentional, tho he is pushing it.

Golf rules are sometimes dubious, and always extremely penal. They get worse in hazards because the rules basically say you get no mercy in there because you shouldn't be in there in the first place. Ole Tom Morris was a strict bastard.