Ahhh good...Now lets Cut to the chase....THE PROBLEM >>”the Committee is satisfied that the competitor could not reasonably have known or discovered the facts resulting in his breach of the Rules,”
The fact Tiger said on national TV he moved back 2 yards to enhance his chances of hitting the same shot is proof positive he didn't understand the rule that he unequivocally violated and further attested to it by signing his bogus card!....
Hence his only defense is: I didn't understand the rule!!!
The “Committee”, in it's ruling has said, in effect,
>>>the competitor could not reasonably have known or discovered the facts resulting in his breach of the Rules,” (essentially agreeing with his defense of not understanding the very basic rule that governed his drop, which he clearly violated)and thus did NOT disqualify him...
We now have precedence for not Disqualifying ANYONE for lack of knowledge of the rules....
Obviously anyone in the future that is DQ’d could safely use this precedence as a valid defense.(from here on out referred to as the “Tiger Rule”)
“A player must NOT be disqualified for lack of knowledge or understanding of basic golf rules”
IMHO It's sad, for Tiger but more importantly Golf that the RULE of “unintended consequence's” has not been violated but will change the honor and traditions of golf forever...
P.S. if any Pro in the future gets DQ’d for lack of understanding the rules of golf I would nominate Tiger's defense attorney on this thread C Edmond Wright to defend him....C. Edmond understands this logic and is very good at knowing what everyone else is thinking....*W*
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Once again, the Rules Committee said that a DQ was not possible because THEY MADE A RULING DURING THE ROUND THAT THERE WAS NO RULES VIOLATION. Not because he didn’t know the rule. They explicitly said that if he didn’t know the rule that would not protect him. Because they made a ruling DURING THE ROUND then, according to everyone involved, he could not have signed an incorrect scorecard. Furthermore, if they had made the correct ruling during the round he would have received the exact same penalty he received. A two stroke penalty under 20-5 hitting a ball from the wrong spot.