Recent rulings leaving bad taste in mouth

Recent rulings leaving bad taste in mouth

The rules are there for a reason, and they make golf an enjoyable "gentleman's" game and pastime around the world.

The rules, however, have done golf no favours in the last week.

Last weekend, Dustin Johnson lost his chance at a major championship because of his own ignorance of a posted interpretation of the rules regarding bunkers at the PGA Championship. The affair also illustrated very poor implementation by the PGA of America, which conducts the tournament.

And in this case you're entitled to rant on architect Pete Dye, too.

Saturday, Mexico's Jose de Jesus Rodriguez tied the course record in Seaforth, Ont., and was leading the Canadian Tour event there by three shots.

Until he simply forgot to sign his scorecard after his 61. Small thing, but he was disqualified.

The same fate was accorded LPGA Hall of Famer Juli Inkster at the Safeway Classic in North Plains, Ore.

And this penalty was most troubling. Inkster violated Rule 14-3 about artificial devices.

Her breach was simply slipping a weighted doughnut onto her 9-iron and taking a few loosen-up swings on the par-5 10th tee while she was waiting 30 minutes there to continue her round.

A specific interpretation of the rule does not permit the use of those doughnuts and weighted headcovers during a round.

Inkster, who had shot 67 and was tied for second, was busted by another of those loathsome TV viewers, who snitched by emailing tournament officials in Oregon. The LPGA took the information, reviewed it, even checked with the USGA and then gave Inkster the bad news.

I will undoubtedly be set straight this week by a rules guru, but it seems to me that this rule is designed to disallow the use of any training or swing aid during a round.

Of course, no outside device should help a player in the playing of any stroke.

But stretching muscles (oddly, there is a provision in the rules decisions about stretching devices being permitted) with a shaft doughnut is hardly that.

The application of this rule also showed golf organizations who enforce them to be hypocritical. Why was Inkster waiting 30 minutes on the tee of the par-5 hole? Why aren't slow-play standards (another column entirely) being enforced? "A good pace" are among the first words in the rule book.

Really, what Inkster did Saturday was tend to her health and fitness, not try to cheat the rules. What's the difference between what she did and eating a banana during her round?

Will the USGA and R&A, who write and administer the rules of golf, soon start approving supermarket products?

I also fail to understand why the LPGA or the consulted USGA couldn't find a way to get Saturday's decision correct in the spirit of the rules. It says right in the 14-3 text that: "A player is not in breach of this Rule if (a) the equipment or device is designed for or has the effect of alleviating a medical condition, (b) the player has a legitimate medical reason to use the equipment or device, and (c) the Committee is satisfied that its use does not give the player any undue advantage over other players."

The rules are necessary, but they have not helped a sport gain any new fans in the last week. Obscure or odd application of rules leave casual fans confused. It does nothing to excite them.

Think about it -- does the Inkster decision help the CN Canadian Open sell any more tickets this week? Well, Inkster, the class figure she has been for a long time, will be in Winnipeg this week and will undoubtedly take the high road, but the fact the LPGA missed out on a huge chance for a great story last week only hurts this week's buzz.

The Inkster incident brought back thoughts of a similar golf tragedy, the story of Mark Roe, who was having the tournament of his life and in contention at the 2003 British Open at Royal St. George's. After Round 3, he was disqualified because, essentially, he failed to swap scorecards on the first tee with Jesper Parnevik and their scores were simply recorded on the wrong scorecards. The rule standard has since been changed so that failure to exchange cards is no longer disqualification.

It will be tough do for the R&A and the USGA, for change never comes easily to those stodgy organizations, but maybe the Inkster incident will prompt another justifiable modification to make the punishment fit the golf crime, or lack of one.

-Tim Campbell; Winnipeg Free Press