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To: Yo-Yo

I think I got it:

“European Tour senior referee Andy McFee said Friday that a viewer emailed to say Harrington replaced his ball on the green and, as he took the coin away, his hand moved the ball. Since the ball was not replaced, Harrington incurred a two stroke penalty not reflected on his scorecard.”

He could have replaced the ball without penalty, but failed to do so since he did not notice it had moved.


13 posted on 01/21/2011 10:44:03 AM PST by proxy_user
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To: proxy_user

OK, but the video clearly shows that the ball rocked then fell back onto the same dimple, so it didn’t get moved, and it replaced itself to the proper point. I don’t think that was a two stroke penalty, and subesequently not a DQ for signing an incorrect scorecard. The was precisely the unintentional ball movement that 20-3a addresses.

Had the ball actually moved to a different spot, instead of just rocking, I can see the penalty for failure to replace. But calling it a penalty simply because the ball rocked is outrageous and uncalled for, IMHO, and doubly so when a viewer phones it in instead of a player or caddy challenging it at the hole. I’d bet at least a dollar that Harrington didn’t even realize he disturbed the ball.

Are we now going to introduce instant replay into golf?


14 posted on 01/21/2011 11:50:57 AM PST by Yo-Yo (Is the /sarc tag really necessary?)
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