Brian Davis

[BonoVox]

Well he pretty much lost the tournament when he hit it into the hazard. (he sure put himself behind the 8 ball anyway) That is one of the risks of playing it out of a hazard. He played to win and it did not work out.

Kudos to him for calling it.

[J_Bone]

Nobody says that you have to sit down and learn every rule by heart overnight. But anyone who plays golf regularly should aspire to improving his rules knowledge. It's an integral part of playing the game. Make some small effort now and then and one day you will realize that you have acquired a working knowledge of the rules without really trying, and the amazing thing is that you will find that it didn't spoil your fun after all. Most pf the players I know who decided to learn the game properly didn't do so in a day or a week, but over a period of time, by simply carrying a rule book and referring to once a round, or every other round as a little question came up. Gradually the whole point of the rules started to make sense. And most have found that they enjoy the game more than they did when they were just batting a ball around the course with no sense of order or structure to the game they were playing.

That is a perfect point. I try my best to follow the rules as best I can. I learned something myself and NOW I know.

[Cussin hacker]

That is a perfect point. I try my best to follow the rules as best I can. I learned something myself and NOW I know.

Well said...Thats what I try to do myself. I've read the rules and honestly can't remember chit, but I do try.

[zeg]

The old Tom Watson rule books were great - all the rules, with explanations in his words, then some anecdotes. Worth reading on their own merit, but educational as well.

Yes, they're great. They had a copy of a fairly recent one at my library and I couldn't believe I actually found the rules interesting. He does a good job explaining not just what the rule is, but why the rule needs to be the way it is. As I recall he had a very good explanation for why the OB rule (stroke+distance) had to be as it is, as "unfair" as it sometimes seems. Of course, I don't actually recall the logic, but at the time it made sense...

[McGolf-Doggie]

Rule 13-4 prohibits even

Therein probably lies the rub, I guess.

I want to think of a way that the rule could be enhanced, to allow it so that one could take a backswing and still make contact a loose impediment that is "significantly" above the ground and across a line consistent with a backswing along the target line, but it gets messy and difficult to define that "significantly" part. It will be interesting to see if the rules committee attempts to do that. I doubt it. The rules is the rules. I was worried for moment that I would have to retroactively give myself a 2 stroke penalty for moving a twig loose impediment in my backswing path, but it wasn't in a hazard. Honor saved, for now, casual round or not, the rules are the rules.

[zeg]

I want to think of a way that the rule could be enhanced, to allow it so that one could take a backswing and still make contact a loose impediment that is "significantly" above the ground and across a line consistent with a backswing along the target line, but it gets messy and difficult to define that "significantly" part.

Yeah, I think it's a situation where there's not really a good way to improve things. After all, the purpose of a hazard is to punish an errant shot. You've got the option to drop and avoid the whole issue, but if you don't do it, then it's up to you to be sure you completely avoid touching the impediments. In a sport where the rules are largely self-enforced, grey areas are very dangerous. At the end of the day, the rule is the same for everyone. If you don't want to suffer the penalty, then stay out of the hazards or be sure not to touch anything if you find yourself in one.

[Zeph]

I've got a small rule book with pictures, which covers 99% of the situations I encounter on the course. For any strange things, if we have the time, we look up the rule and follow it. If we don't have the time, we decide on what we should do, play on and read up on the rule while walking to the ball, next tee or in the club house.

Like someone have mentioned, the Tom Watson book, many similar probably exist to help visualizing a rule and making it easier to understand. I carry one of those and one standard complete rule book in my bag. I know more rules than those I play with, so I sometimes have to point out that they are doing something wrong.

[FX(TM)]

Really was admirable stuff. I know a lot of people wouldn't mention it especially with it being in a play-off, where the consequences are even worse than if it was just in a normal round.

I don't agree with the rule, but rules are there for a reason, and if you don't obey them, you should be penalised.

[mtsalmela80]

I wonder if he knew he was going to lose shooting out of that hazard and decided to penalize himself and lose with the utmost respect from every rules junkie, instead of playing it out and losing like a man.

Here is a a question...would it have been detected and called if he had not called it on himself?

[Kcas77]

At first I thought this rule was a bad one but now reading through the comments I have changed my mind because what if there was a stick behind the ball, if this rule didn't exist you would be able to move the stick during your shot giving yourself a better lie. (all of this happening in a hazard)

[thehelper]

Interesting finish at the Verizon, not so sure if Davis would have called that penalty had the camera not been behind him. Food for thought. Why he yanked it left is beyond me since in a playoff, you gotta play it safe to a point and stay in the game. Any error, such the one played is just mental lapse, there are no more holes ahead. The train has come to the end of the track. He’ll think about that one forever. He didn’t recover all that well anyway, but I think that hitting the reed may have caused a slight mental distraction.
It only takes a split second to distract one’s swing….you all know that.

Ok, down to New Orleans. Not many big names but we have Choi, Garcia, Kelly, Baddeley, Romero and Weir to give us a go. The course is open, so the big hitters can let it go, it’s a long course, so guys like O’hern and Weir will be hitting about 2 irons more than the bottle rockets. I’ll see ya all tomorrow with some choice stuff from the Verizon….

[DarkPrince]

So are you guys talking about this book?:

http://www.amazon.com/RULES-GOLF-THR...1792581&sr;=8-9

[BonoVox]

I wonder if he knew he was going to lose shooting out of that hazard and decided to penalize himself and lose with the utmost respect from every rules junkie, instead of playing it out and losing like a man.

Well it sure seemed like they had missed it. After he hit the coverage went right to the next set of scenarios panning up to the green and JF. I think because his shot was not close they did not harp on it with replay etc. (or maybe it happened too fast?)

If later on they catch it, how are they going to prove that the stick was loose or growing in the hazzard? (at that point I am sure he would have said yeah I hit it but it was growing out of the sand so I did not mention it) Would be tough to find the exact spot after the fact. Heck the tide might even come in and move everything around by then.

[alf174]

The amazing thing is that he had the presence of mind (calm?), in a playoff position that could mean his first PGA victory, to be that aware that he violated a rule that possibly could have not been detected or seen. Kudos to him for staying in the moment.

[sean_miller]

He was probably asking himself, "WWMWD?"

[zeg]

So are you guys talking about this book?:

Yes, that book (or a similar edition) is the one I read. The one I had was hardcover with a different cover and may have had a slightly different rules edition, but few enough rules change that it's still worthwhile.

[jamo]

So are you guys talking about this book?:

I've heard this one is good too:

http://www.amazon.com/Golf-Rules-Illustrated-Effective-Through/dp/0600617882/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s;=books&qid;=1271805627&sr;=1-1

[killerduck]

Rule 13-4 prohibits even

OK, can someone tell me if he was playing the shot? Or just taking a practice swing? I only saw one replay of his club touching the twig/thing but not if he continued to play the ball..... Because if he was PLAYING the ball I can't see how it's a penalty?