Quote:
Originally Posted by Marathon Man
If you are refering to Lowry, he did indeed take a stroke for the violation. And had to replace his ball back to the original position before putting.
I just don't get why everyone is so upset by this. Golf has caught up to other sports in the use of replay to confirm penalties - a proven improvement in officiating.
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Nope, not talking about Lowry. There was another player who addressed his ball and noted that the alignment line shifted to the right. He called in an official and explained what had happened. The official determined the player did not cause the ball to move and there was no penalty. The situation was extremely similar to Dustin's.
Other sports use replay because of the speed of the game, think football, baseball, and hockey. And the tendency of players to get away with what they can. The fact that golfers on tour more often than not call penalties on themselves makes it different. I'm not naive enough to think that there aren't some occasions that "slip" by, but the tour is self-policing in that a pro won't get away with it for long before another player turns him/her in.
As I said, my real beef is that two situations, remarkably similar, were treated very differently even though both were caught on camera, and both had a USGA official right on the spot that made a ruling. That should have been the end of it. Just like it was for Ernie Els at an Open at Oakmont and the movable/immovable TV vehicle.