When will tour players call out Keegan Bradley?

[9iron]

I don't believe you don't need intent to break a rule. If the lie is altered then its altered and the rule has been broken.

Phil takes practice swings, but he's usually not right next to the ball when he does so.

Back in the old days Jumbo Ozaki was accused of this, but the way he did it was totally different. When he missed the fairway he would not return his driver to the caddy but would instead carry it with him like a walking stick. He'd arrive at his ball in the rough and pat the grass down behind the ball as if he were assessing the lie with the driver (like who does this?). Greg Norman called him out on it and it caused a stir too.

[albatross]

i dont think it has anything to do with that.  hes bending the grass down.  regardless of intent/OCD.

That is correct.  Regardless of his "condition", he has to follow the same rules as everyone else.

[Golfingdad]

no.  youll see a lot of golfers very carefully assessing their lie by specifically placing the club a short distance behind the ball so that the grass immediately behind the ball is untouched.  by this method, there will still be the same amount of grass/clubface interaction, and the lie is not improved.

Yeah, this is kind of what I was thinking.  None of them are going to risk the ball moving by putting the club too close to the ball.  So there is always going to be some grass that remains untouched.

Also, I'm no horticulturist (heck, I don't even know how to spell it) but it seems to me that most of the time, once you swing back through the grass, it's basically returning back to where it was just prior.  Thirdly, on most of these shots, they are coming in with a shallow enough angle of attack that even if they did push the grass down a tad, I would imagine that they're still coming back into the ball "under" that same grass.

That said, I will stipulate that Keegan does seem to have a slightly unusual habit of "addressing" his ball for all of his practice swings, whereas (I think) most other players take their entire practice swings next to their ball.

This thread is enough for me to now be intrigued and I will start paying attention to this ... that is, whenever they get back to a course with rough.

[Monte the Bear]

Once again, Bradley has been closely scrutinised for his behaviour when his ball is in the rough - this time for stepping behind his ball, setting his wedge behind the ball and pressing down and not taking a swing at it, and finally for taking swings diagonally through the line of the rough immediately behind the ball.

Said it before, this guy is just not behaving correctly when his ball is in the long stuff.

[isukgolf]

Once again, Bradley has been closely scrutinised for his behaviour when his ball is in the rough - this time for stepping behind his ball, setting his wedge behind the ball and pressing down and not taking a swing at it, and finally for taking swings diagonally through the line of the rough immediately behind the ball.

Said it before, this guy is just not behaving correctly when his ball is in the long stuff.

Excuse my lack of knowledge ... is there a rule preventing it?  Or is it considered bad sportsmanship ...

I thought as long as the ball does not move, he is with the rules???

[Lihu]

Once again, Bradley has been closely scrutinised for his behaviour when his ball is in the rough - this time for stepping behind his ball, setting his wedge behind the ball and pressing down and not taking a swing at it, and finally for taking swings diagonally through the line of the rough immediately behind the ball.

Said it before, this guy is just not behaving correctly when his ball is in the long stuff.

He just can't hit any branches or move the ball (except in oscillation), or was it even in a hazard?

Can you post a video of the occurrence?

EDIT: http://www.sbnation.com/golf/2013/5/31/4383358/keegan-bradley-pga-tour-memorial-tournament-2013

Excuse my lack of knowledge ... is there a rule preventing it?  Or is it considered bad sportsmanship ...

I thought as long as the ball does not move, he is with the rules???

Yeah, I'm just learning all these rules, myself. So much to learn!

[LuciusWooding]

He's improving his lie. You may be able to take practice swings and ground the club, but improving your lie intentionally is not acceptable. There's no other explanation for why he's doing those things.

Sort of like how Kenny Perry used to ground the old 3 wood and flatten out the area behind the ball before switching clubs. Not justifiable.

[iacas]

Is there also video of this incident?

[Lihu]

Is there also video of this incident?

It's in the link that I edited into my earlier post, roughly the middle of the page.

http://www.sbnation.com/golf/2013/5/31/4383358/keegan-bradley-pga-tour-memorial-tournament-2013

[iacas]

It's in the link that I edited into my earlier post, roughly the middle of the page.

http://www.sbnation.com/golf/2013/5/31/4383358/keegan-bradley-pga-tour-memorial-tournament-2013

That's from the 2013 Memorial.

I'm assuming @Monte the Bear 's post speaks to something that happened today .

[jamo]

@Monte the Bear you created this thread three months ago: http://thesandtrap.com/t/73384/when-will-tour-players-call-out-keegan-bradley/0_30 They seem similar enough to merge but I'm on my phone.

[Lihu]

That's from the 2013 Memorial.

I'm assuming @Monte the Bear's post speaks to something that happened today.

Yeah, I know.

IDK, I dug around the internet, but didn't find anything recent. I thought it was at the US Open or something?

[iacas]

They seem similar enough to merge but I'm on my phone.

Merged.

[Monte the Bear]

Yep, happened last night. Mare Roe was commentating on how he sweeps the clubs behind the ball.

I said last time, watch this guy when he plays at a place where the rough is high. If he's on camera tomorrow and they stay on him in the 2nd cut, it's so blatant.

[David in FL]

Yep, happened last night. Mare Roe was commentating on how he sweeps the clubs behind the ball. I said last time, watch this guy when he plays at a place where the rough is high. If he's on camera tomorrow and they stay on him in the 2nd cut, it's so blatant.

I saw it. For the life of me I don't know how, in rough that deep, sweeping the rough a foot behind his ball could have improved his lie or swing path. I just think it's part of his own particular brand of ADHD....

[iacas]

Yep, happened last night. Mare Roe was commentating on how he sweeps the clubs behind the ball.

Post a video, or I'm inclined to side with @David in FL in this case.

[skydog]

This has aggravated me on Keegan for awhile now as well, and is one of several reasons I don't root for the guy.

[colin007]

I saw it. For the life of me I don't know how, in rough that deep, sweeping the rough a foot behind his ball could have improved his lie or swing path. I just think it's part of his own particular brand of ADHD....

The swinging the club a foot behind the ball is different than the placing the club immediately behind the ball. He does this thing where he grounds the club, twirls it, grounds it again, like three times, then backs off, swings, then regrounds the club and hits.