Fitzpatrick Cracked Driver Denied Replacement

[Vinsk]

‘This is outrageous’: Matt Fitzpatrick fumes when denied chance to replace cracked driver

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Matt Fitzpatrick called for a ruling on the eighth hole Sunday during the final round of the BMW Championship at...

Seems a bit silly. A small, paper thin sticker in the upper toe corner is deemed as ‘affecting ball flight’ but a crack in the middle isn’t. 

[iacas]

13 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

‘This is outrageous’: Matt Fitzpatrick fumes when denied chance to replace cracked driver

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Matt Fitzpatrick called for a ruling on the eighth hole Sunday during the final round of the BMW Championship at...

Seems a bit silly. A small, paper thin sticker in the upper toe corner is deemed as ‘affecting ball flight’ but a crack in the middle isn’t. 

Okey dokey.

1. A paper thin sticker anywhere on the face could affect ball flight and renders the club non-conforming.
2. The PGA Tour uses the Local Rule G-9. They don't need to. This is on them, not the Rules of Golf. Were it just the Rules of Golf without G-9 involved, he'd have been able to replace it. I'm not sure of the PGA Tour's reasons for enacting G-9.

[saevel25]

Quote

For the purposes of this Local Rule:

• A club is “broken or significantly damaged” when:

  • the shaft breaks into pieces, splinters or is bent (but not when the shaft is only dented)

  • the club face impact area is visibly deformed (but not when the club face is only scratched)

  • the clubhead is visibly and significantly deformed

  • the clubhead is detached or loose from the shaft, or

  • the grip is loose.

Exception: A club face or clubhead is not “broken or significantly damaged” solely because it is cracked.

So, I assume it wasn't allowed to be replace because a crack is a deformation? Did they think it was just scratched? 

I like the story the announcer told. There was a time were this happened in another tournament, the partner of the golfer who had the club cracked told him to just hit a provisional and swing as hard as he can in the hope the club just gets destroyed. You can hit a provisional anytime, so why not? 🤣

[iacas]

34 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

You can hit a provisional anytime, so why not? 🤣

This is not true.

[Vinsk]

If he had continued to use it and as he hit a drive the face caved in/broke, I assume he’d have to play that ball wherever it landed assuming it wasn’t OB/water? I’m wondering why he didn’t keep using it to see if the ‘crack’ was a problem.

[Elmer]

In the video I saw, the golfer used the driver to prove his point. He hit is low left and 50 yards short of his normal distance.

Some times rules are good, sometimes they are silly!

[GolfLug]

1 hour ago, Elmer said:

Some times rules are good, sometimes they are silly!

The rule would have allowed the driver to be replace as long as it was broken during normal play and indeed broken. Seems like the official didn't think at least one of those conditions were met. That's on him.

[Rulesman]

iacas mentioned G-9 earlier.

Perhaps it's worth quoting

G-9 Replacing Club That is Broken or Significantly Damaged

Purpose: Rule 4.1a(2) allows a player to repair or replace a club that is damaged during the round, except in cases of abuse. But a Committee may adopt a Local Rule to restrict replacement of a club to cases where the club is broken or significantly damaged, which does not include a club that is cracked.

A club is “broken or significantly damaged” when: The clubhead is visibly and significantly deformed (but not when the clubhead is only cracked)

A club face or clubhead is not “broken or significantly damaged” solely because it is cracked.

Edited August 26 by Rulesman

[iacas]

1 hour ago, GolfLug said:

The rule would have allowed the driver to be replace as long as it was broken during normal play and indeed broken. Seems like the official didn't think at least one of those conditions were met. That's on him.

It’s G-9 Vishal; @Rulesman quoted it above.

[GolfLug]

46 minutes ago, iacas said:

It’s G-9 Vishal; @Rulesman quoted it above.

Yes, thanks. I, like a few others here, was puzzled that a face crack (even if without visible 'deformation') would not qualify as a non-conforming club under G-9. I went online and found another incidence with Seung-Yul Noh where exact same thing happened. According to the article, he hit it again after being denied replacement similarly, and then he 'caved' it the very next shot to sufficient deformation gaining right to replace it.     

Edited August 26 by GolfLug

[DaveP043]

33 minutes ago, GolfLug said:

Yes, thanks. I, like a few others here, was puzzled that a face crack (even if without visible 'deformation') would not qualify as a non-conforming club

As long as it was conforming when he started play, he can continue using it, no matter what the damage.  This is from 4.1a(2):

"But no matter what the nature or cause of the damage, the damaged club is treated as conforming for the rest of the round "

[turtleback]

PGA Star Freakin’ Loses It On Official After ‘Outrageous’ Ruling [VIDEO]

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Matt Fitzpatrick’s PGA Tour season came to a disappointing and contentious end at the BMW Championship on Sunday. The English golfer narrowly missed out

IMO the ruling was absurd.  First off, players don't routinely scrutinize their driver faces after each drive, so Matt obviously felt something in his drive that caused him to look closely.  Secondly, with the high level of today's technology it is not implausible that even such a small crack could affect the structural integrity of the head and therefore the playability of the club.  (IMO it is ridiculous to suggest that he hit his next drive poorly, on purpose make a point - too muck money involved to potentially throw away a stroke to make a point.)  Thirdly, he had a replacement club readily at hand to replace the damaged club so there would be no undue delay.   Fourthly, he would derive no advantage from replacing the damaged club UNLESS the damage affected the playability of the club.

Thoughts?

Edited August 27 by turtleback

[iacas]

51 minutes ago, turtleback said:

Thoughts?

If only we didn’t already have a topic for it… 😜

The PGA Tour enacts G-9 for some reason. Maybe they fear players will be replacing clubs frequently mid-round. As it is the rule seems to have been enforced properly.

[turtleback]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

If only we didn’t already have a topic for it… 😜

The PGA Tour enacts G-9 for some reason. Maybe they fear players will be replacing clubs frequently mid-round. As it is the rule seems to have been enforced properly.

Huh, I looked but didn't see it.  I still don't see it other than the merge.  Sorry.

[iacas]

25 minutes ago, turtleback said:

Huh, I looked but didn't see it.  I still don't see it other than the merge.  Sorry.

I merged it. It's in the Rules of Golf forum. THIS topic.

Scroll up.

[GolfLug]

It sucks for MF but I would think the rule is in place to avoid any undeserved replacements that could end up being a fifteenth club, intentionally or unintentionally. Plus not sure how an official could determine playability in that situation.

[iacas]

11 minutes ago, GolfLug said:

It sucks for MF but I would think the rule is in place to avoid any undeserved replacements that could end up being a fifteenth club, intentionally or unintentionally. Plus not sure how an official could determine playability in that situation.

It wouldn't be a 15th. You'd have to take the damaged club out of play.

The rule allows replacement, not addition.

[turtleback]

2 hours ago, iacas said:

I merged it. It's in the Rules of Golf forum. THIS topic.

Scroll up.

Ah, that explains it.  Thanks.