Lexi Thompson Assessed 4 Stroke Penalty, Loses Championship in Playoff!
 

Lexi Thompson was informed that she received a four stroke penalty as she walked off the 12th hole on Sunday at the ANA Inspiration.

An email was received by LPGA officials from a viewer about a possible rules infraction during the third round.

TONY'S LPGA REPORT: Lexi Thompson Receives 4 stroke Penalty, Loses Championship by 1 Stroke in Playoff

TV viewer and instant replay, this is really stupid. Not good for the sport!!!!!!!!!

Maybe a viewer will call in tomorrow about an incomplete pass in the super bowl and NE didn't really win. Or maybe they'll spot a hit that was really foul in the World Series and the Cubs are still on a 111 year dry spell. Oh, wait, these sports don't ALLOW that, so why does golf?????? How much time and money do the pro tours waste on evaluating these "call ins"??? How long before the number of these call explodes as fans try to influence the outcome to benefit their favorite player? And if officials want to use videotape to assess penalties (which is really the responsibility of the individual player), they should have a camera on every player, every shot, every round since TV coverage is skewed to show only the leaders and therefore inherently inequitable.

In my opinion, the video clearly shows that she cheated by moving the ball out of a hole, which was probably a spike mark. The player is not allowed to repair spike marks, or to move the ball from its original location. Regardless of how the violation was detected, I think the ruling was correct. Unlike other sports, golfers are supposed to enforce their own violations.

So why listen to television viewers?

Seems to me that they follow the people who have a good chance of winning the money involved in the Tournament which would mean that they have a number of cameras going on the leader board players at one time. The technicians, staff, director, etc running the televising of the golfing see quite a bit more than the television audience. All these people could look out for infractions made by the players whether or no someone calls them in or not. There must be a lot of fans who call in just for the attention and others who are more serious about the golf being played.

I honestly don't think that she did it intentionally. If you look at the video you can see that her hand obscures here view of the ball. It's pretty much impossible to call a penalty on yourself for a violation that you are unaware you committed.

I agree that the rule must be applied equally to all competitors, but I don't think that the governing bodies of these competitions should act upon phone calls, or e-mails from viewers to look at previous rules violations unless it is clear that the action was done on purpose and/or it affects the players score.

One of the big problems with this is that the players who are on television the most are the most likely to be caught by this things. There might have been players that barely made the cut that had some minuscule rules violation in the first round that never got picked up because they weren't on television and then went on to make the cut and finish high up in the tournament.

It's not that it's unfair application of the rules, it's unfair monitoring of players.

Gerina Piller shot 71-75 to make the cut on the number. She then shot 74-66 to finish 35T and win $16,000. How do we know that she didn't miss mark her ball or accidentally touch the sand in a bunker without noticing in the first or second round. We don't know because she wasn't on television during those rounds. If something like that had been caught on television, it might have allowed another player to make the cut. Is that fair to the field?

If you're going to have television rules making then you need to have a close up camera on every player during every shot in the tournament and someone to sit and view everyone play.

Hopefully, when the new rules come out something will be done about this. Until then, unless it's a flagrant, intentional violation that definitely affected the players score, television viewer notifications should be ignored.

Another possibility is to not allowed any penalties, with the exception of signing an incorrect scorecard and penalties that can be shown to be flagrant and intentional, to be applied once a round is completed or once the next round has been begun.

How the violation was detected doesn't change the fact that she violated the rules, and it is probably not the first time. You don't move the ball out of a hole to improve your lie by accident. The normal way to replace a marked ball is to stand directly behind the ball facing the hole, not sideways the way she did it. If the ball is in a spike mark, you know it, and you have to putt it from the spike mark. You cannot move it. I think she should be more concerned about her reputation, and just acknowledge that the penalty was correct.

I don't think that "cheated" is an appropriate term here. To me. "cheated" implies that the player did something intentional to gain an advantage.

Do you think that Roberto DeVinsenzo cheated when the signed an incorrect scorecard? Do you think that Dustin Johnson cheated when he touched the ground in a poorly defined bunker?

Do you think that a player that accidentally kicks his ball while searching for it in long rough is cheating?

Cheating implies intent and no one is saying that Lexi Thompson intentionally tried to create an advantage.

AS I said, if you look at the video you can see that her hand obscures the ball and the marker when she replaced it. We don't know if the ball was in a hole or not and we have no way of knowing whether she did it intentionally. Again, no one from the LPGA, USGA or the tournament is accusing her of cheating. You have to give the player the benefit of the doubt in these case.


Probably not the first time? You can't possibly be serious. You have absolutely no knowledge that she has ever done anything like this before. Why would you make such a ludicrous accusatory statement?

After reviewing the play, I can see how her hand would have obstructed her view of the ball in relation to the coin but I could not see a pitch or ball mark at the ball placement. Why is golf the only sport I can sit in my underwear, drink PBR or take a toke, and armchair referee the game from my living room? Just asking!

I can understand to a certain degree that the tournament committee might look at evidence from any source. We have a game that is self governing. We trust that all of the players will do the right thing. We also don't have a referee with every player looking at every swing and every movement like we do in other sports. Sometimes things happen intentionally or otherwise that are not seen, but should be dealt with.

Other sports have officials looking closely at every play.

But when a violation is so minor, can't be shown to be intentional and did not affect the players score, the evidence should be ignored. Unfortunately, under the current rules the officials have no choice but to enforce the rules as they are written.

Ok, I will agree that accusing her of cheating may be a bit strong, but I'm sure that some people who have played competitive sports will see it that way. However, I really think that her reputation with the public is a bigger issue than this one tournament. The video clearly shows that she violated the rule and she should own up to it, and be more careful in the future when marking her ball.

Got it. So it must be OK to run an illegal wiretap on your cell phone to see if you're cheating on your spouse or income tax. After all, HOW it was detected doesn't matter.

I do see a small hole or mark on the video. But, what is really interesting on the video is that she picks up the ball and immediately replaces it without cleaning it or lining up the ball markings with the hole. These are the typical reasons why a player will mark the ball in the first place. So, it begs the question, why did she even mark the ball if she were not trying to improve her lie?

Maybe my eyesight but I just don't see a mark. I see her hand coming down in a totally different position placing the ball. I have seen players mark and briefly reset their ball without cleaning or standing upright with it. I personally always stand behind my ball placing the coin toward the pin. My main reason to mark and remove my ball is so it won't be hit or moved.

Some players will mark and replace just to align the brand label with the line of the putt, so let's not assign a motive just because she didn't feel it necessary to clean the ball

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C' mon soon after the tournament was over she and her partner were @30,000 ft in her private jet sipping Dom Perignon ( 1998 )..along with Dean & DeLuca Caviar 8.8 oz. size, Russian of course, planning there " Romantic " get away somewhere in the South Pacific .

So I do appreciate all the Tears and Sympathy...but realistically... Lexi..I'm certain slept pretty good last night.

Dear Devoted fans and Admirers Get over it.

She owned up to it quite nicely. She said that she didn't know she did it. As far as I can see, she handled the whole matter with dignity and class. She never argued with the ruling.

I think that her public showed exactly what they think of her as she approached the 18th green yesterday.

I think that most people believe that it was an unintentional error and are very sympathetic toward her.

Actually, how it was detected does not matter.

Once the officials are made aware of a violation, they have a responsibility to the rest of the field to investigate it and if there is a violation, to correctly apply the rules regardless of the source of the information.

There's a big difference between watching a television program and wire tapping. Golfers playing in a tournament are in the public domain. Reporting their actions is way different than wire tapping a private phone line. If you saw a bank being robbed and reported it to the police, would you be violating the bank robber's rights? Should the police consider that they didn't see the event themselves?

If you know that someone was cheating on their income tax and reported it to the IRS shouldn't the IRS investigate or should they do nothing because of how it was detected.?

In this particular case, under the current rules, the ruling was 100% correct. Once the officials have the information regardless of how it was obtained they must act according to the rules.

I doubt very highly that she slept well. She has enough money to last for generations. Money is not what motivates people like Lexi Thompson, or anyone that play a sport at the highest levels. Lexi wants to become known as the greatest female to ever play the game. She wants to have a major championship record that is unsurpassed.

Regardless of what is going on in her personal life, this was a major blow to her. Some people never get over events like this and spiral into mediocrity.

I hear people all the time with comments about Tiger Woods. "He has so much money, what does he care?"

He does care to a degree that many of us might not understand. It is killing him that his career is turning out this way. He was on track to beat all of Jack Nicklaus' records and that has become extremely doubtful now.

I don't think that a lot of people realize how much these people are driven and how hard they work to get to where they are. It's really not about money at that level. If it was, why would they continue playing? Why does Tom Brady keep going out week after week and taking the hits that he does? Why doesn't he just take it easy and enjoy the money that he has. His net worth together with his wife is almost $600 million dollars. How can anyone think that he is motivated by money.

If golf were more popular, the viewer who notified the officials could become the new Steve Bartman. If the roles had been reversed and Lexi Thompson had won and So Yeon Ryu lost because of the penalties, we wouldn't even be talking about it.

I think how it was detected DOES matter. IMO, a primary function of the ROG is to maintain a level field for all competitors. The intrusion of TV into the competition should be no more than that of a spectator attending the event. The officials running these tournaments should not accept any input from outside the competition committee, walking officials, or competitors.

In this particular case, the incidental/accidental error in replacing the ball wasn't apparent to her fellow competitors, walking scorer, or attending official. It was only apparent with a close-up camera shot, similar to the Furyk penalty a couple of years ago when his ball moved about dimple after replacing it. The additional scrutiny from TV coverage tilts the field to the detriment of those covered by placing every move they make under a microscope. A condition the vast majority of players don't have to experience.

The players in the lead have more TV coverage and scrutiny, but the players who are not in the lead, are more likely to lose their ball because there are no cameras and spectators tracking where it goes on every shot. Also, spectators lining the fairway often get hit by the ball, which causes it to deflect back into the fairway. Years ago, Tiger Woods had a huge rock boulder (loose impediment) moved by several strong spectators so he could make a shot. That would have never happened to a player not in the lead. But, in this particular case, there was a very clear violation of the rules and she should have been penalized. So, justice prevailed. Her playing partners may have seen it, but let it slide, because they didn't want to be criticized.

I agree with much of what you say, but once the officials are made aware that a violation had occurred it's their duty and responsibility to look into the matter and assess appropriate penalties.

For example let's say that a rules official is standing near the gallery of the 18th hole of a tournament and overhears a spectator say, "She should know how this putt breaks. I saw her practicing on this green this morning."

In that case, a competitor violated a rule for which the penalty is disqualification. It would be difficult to convince me that a player on any of the professional tours doesn't know this rule. I would have to assume that it was done intentionally and with the intent of gaining an advantage.

Should the rules official ignore that comment or should she investigate it? Should isn't it the responsibility of the official to ensure that all players play by the rules.

I agree that something has to be done about people calling in while watching on television. I'm not sure what the answer is, but once an official has information that a rule has been violated, it is up to that official to act upon that information regardless of the source.

I don't think that you can simply say that they shouldn't listen to information from any one source. What if it's a flagrant, intentional violation that no one in the players group sees. I'd lean more to giving officials more discretion in deciding if the violation was intentional and affected the player's score.

I'd also like to see them do away with the penalty for signing an incorrect scorecard wen they are not aware that that had broken a rule.

It's a pretty complex problem and IMHO, and hopefully, The USGA will work to find an answer.

Looking at the replay Stevie Wonder could have made that call .

Ok. Ok. I'll admit I wasn't concentrating on her hands.

There seems to be a lot of speculation by some people in this thread.

Why would you say something like that. There is absolutely no evidence that her fellow competitors were aware of the violation.

I respectfully disagree. First of all, golf is very popular. The difference with golf and team sports is that the players don't represent a city or region so most spectators, although they might like a particular player, really don't have a dog in the hunt.

I firmly believe that if So Yeon Ryu had a four stroke lead with a few holes remaining and was assessed a four stroke penalty because of an incident that occurred the day before there would still be plenty of discussion about it.

Isn't that speculation, without any evidence?

Bad for game. Time to stop viewers ability to challenge. If LPGA didn't assess by end of round, it should be over.

I agree that they should put some limits on this as they are probably a lot of people looking for errors or intentional infractions by golfers while they are playing.

One inch off and she loses $150,000 according to Orlando CBS sports reporter Jamie Seh. Doubt it that was intentional.

:agree::agree:

How about flying "infraction drones" over each group to monitor play?? Soon they will allow robots to play on tour that are programmed to not make infractions. Possibly gps in the ball to trigger an alarm if it is not replaced in the exact same spot. Let the player, playing partners, caddies, and tournament officials officiate because the leaps in technology will continually interfere unfairly unless every player is monitored equally, so the field is protected fairly.

Saw an interesting, but unlikely, point of view on another board. What if the emailer was a fan of another golfer and purposely waited til the next day to send the email so that there would also be the signing incorrect scorecard penalty in addition to the wrong place penalty?

Best solution is still to keep the competition between golfers and the committee and its officials. Spectators have no business other than watching.

I thought that was strange as well. But you can't assume from that that it was intentional. A lot of players will mark every time out of habit. She might have marked and then realized it was unnecessary. As has been pointed out, many players line up the brand name before they putt and she may have been doing that as well. It might have been a nervous reaction.

I need a lot more than that to call it intentional. I guess if you reviewed a lot of video of her actions on short putts and found that either she did or didn't do that a lot it might settle the question.

That's OK, but what about flagrant intentional violations that are reported after the fact? Should officials ignore those as well?

That's why I began my sentence with "I believe". I did not state it as fact, only what I think may have occurred.

I'm really surprised that people keep talking about the money. I can assure you that the $150,000 difference in prize money meant nothing to her compare to the prestige of winning that event and everything that goes with it.

In the long run it may have a bit to do with money because the more major championships you win, the more your name is worth in terms of endorsements in the future.

Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer made much more after their playing careers were over because of their accomplishments on the golf course. An extra $1000,000 by finishing second in a US Open back in the day meant nothing compared to the future income that wining the event might bring.

But it's more about prestige and legacy at that level.