2014 Players Championship Discussion Thread

[Dormie1360]

Angel Cabrera

[graham57]

I watched most of the afternoon session at Sawgrass yesterday and have a question maybe someone can help me with understanding: the fairways were littered with loose divots. I saw one drive being diverted by a loose divot as it was rolling out on the fairway, and Martin Kaymer had to play one iron shot right out of a divot. Is there a rule about (not) replacing divots during a tournament? The only relevant thread on this site I found referred to a ruling on Paul Casey almost being penalised not for replacing his divot in itself, but for potentially trying to improve his lie for his next shot, as the ball rolled back to the exact same spot. All I could find on the USGA site was the recommendation under "Etiquette" that divots should be replaced.

I have never noticed this being an issue at a tournament before now. Can someone enlighten me?

[nevets88]

[k-troop]

I thought that was a hybrid, but regardless a great shot. Blind, from the rough on a wicked side hill and he missed his target by only 20 feet or so.

[iacas]

Ball back. Good boy, Jordan. :)

[ChrisP]

I truly hate when there's a threat of thunderstorms in a huge tournament and they DON'T move tee times up an hour. I mean come on. Move them up to 1:30 so they still get 18 holes of coverage on national tv and have a 2-hour window in case there's a delay. Now any delay gaurantees a Monday finish. 30% chance isn't great, but it's enough to warrant caution.

The USGA did this in Bethpage in 2002 and they had an hour delay but because they moved the tee times up 45 minutes, they were still able to finish.

[David in FL]

I truly hate when there's a threat of thunderstorms in a huge tournament and they DON'T move tee times up an hour. I mean come on. Move them up to 1:30 so they still get 18 holes of coverage on national tv and have a 2-hour window in case there's a delay. Now any delay gaurantees a Monday finish. 30% chance isn't great, but it's enough to warrant caution. The USGA did this in Bethpage in 2002 and they had an hour delay but because they moved the tee times up 45 minutes, they were still able to finish.

It's Florida. There's ALWAYS a 30% chance of afternoon thunderstorms this time of year.....

[ChrisP]

It's Florida. There's ALWAYS a 30% chance of afternoon thunderstorms this time of year.....

Eh, not really. Early May is usually pretty dry. For example, here in Tampa we haven't had rain in over a week and that was from a cold front. Usually once you get into late May and June you start getting into thunderstorm season. Point being it wouldn't hurt for them to take caution and move tee times up one hour. Third round it wouldn't be as big a deal.

[David in FL]

Eh, not really. Early May is usually pretty dry. For example, here in Tampa we haven't had rain in over a week and that was from a cold front. Usually once you get into late May and June you start getting into thunderstorm season. Point being it wouldn't hurt for them to take caution and move tee times up one hour. Third round it wouldn't be as big a deal.

Hence only 30%.......or 70% chance we're completely clear. ;-). No way they're messing with national TV for that. Come June/July it'll be 75%. When I grow up I want to be a weatherman down here. Easiest job in the world, and no accountability for the results!

[iacas]

When I grow up I want to be a weatherman down here. Easiest job in the world

I still think that title belongs to "Weatherperson, San Diego, CA."

[ChrisP]

Hence only 30%.......or 70% chance we're completely clear. . No way they're messing with national TV for that.

Come June/July it'll be 75%. When I grow up I want to be a weatherman down here. Easiest job in the world, and no accountability for the results!

No kidding. Southern California's pretty easy, too. They're 75 all-year round with never any rain. You've just got to throw up that 30% chance of fog in there every day and you're golden.

[Chilli Dipper]

I still think that title belongs to "Weatherperson, San Diego, CA."

That explains how Brick Tamland got that gig.

[ChrisP]

Wow, what a huge reversal on the penalty for Rose. He gets the two shots back and goes out and birdies 2 out of the first 4 holes. Out of nowhere he moves to 3rd. Because of the late change in the reversal, his tee time was with the 5-under group so he's going to be a whole front 9 ahead of the leaders when they tee off.

[MS256]

Hence only 30%.......or 70% chance we're completely clear. . No way they're messing with national TV for that.

Come June/July it'll be 75%. When I grow up I want to be a weatherman down here. Easiest job in the world, and no accountability for the results!

Heck that's true around here and they are almost never right. Only job I know of where you can be totally wrong everyday and still keep your job.

[k-troop]

Can someone post a rundown on what happened with Rose's penalty? I saw the chip shot yesterday. They zoomed in on the ball but I didn't see any movement. I assume the penalty was assessed later because they determined that it did move. Now they reversed it again?

[iacas]

Can someone post a rundown on what happened with Rose's penalty? I saw the chip shot yesterday. They zoomed in on the ball but I didn't see any movement. I assume the penalty was assessed later because they determined that it did move. Now they reversed it again?

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Justin Rose began Sunday’s final round two strokes closer to the lead than he had originally thought after the PGA Tour reversed a two-stroke penalty it had assessed Saturday.

The decision was made because of a new rule that was implemented to protect players from violations that can be seen only through high-definition devices.

Rose was assessed the penalty after his ball moved on the 18th hole of the third round after he had addressed it. It was a violation of Rule 18-2b, one stroke for the ball moving at address and one for not replacing it after it had moved.

A new adjustment to the Decisions of Golf was implemented last year so that, “The ball will not be deemed to have moved if that movement was not reasonably discernible to the naked eye at the time.”

PGA Tour vice president of rules and competitions Mark Russell told GolfChannel.com on Friday the new rule didn’t apply to Rose’s situation because, “It's not as though he didn't see anything and then it came up because of high-definition television. He saw something and backed off, that's why the high-definition rule didn't apply.”

But Rose was informed at 11:40 a.m. (ET) on Sunday, about an hour before his final-round tee time, that the penalty had been withdrawn under the new rule. Instead of trailing 54-hole leadersMartin Kaymer and Jordan Spieth by seven strokes when he teed off, Rose was within five shots of the lead.

The PGA Tour subsequently issued a statement on the rescinding of the penalty.

http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golf-central-blog/pga-tour-rescinds-roses-2-shot-penalty/

So he backed off, indicating that he saw something happen, and they made the right ruling based on that… so what happened today?

The tour said this (http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golf-central-blog/pga-tour-statement-rescinding-justin-rose-penalty/):

Then why did Justin Rose have a reaction? What did Justin Rose "see" that prompted his "backing off"?

This all seems very odd to me.

BTW, I doubt there will be much of a call for Justin Rose to withdraw, and I doubt certain announcers will give him an "F" and accuse him of cheating as they did regarding Tiger. Nor should they, of course. He's doing what the committee says to do, and is appropriate and under the rules.

I just wonder what in the heck the rules guys are doing with this one…

Edit: the comments on the first link talk about Tiger. One guy says this: "Shame on Justin. It wasn't the high-tech camera that caught the ball move...it was Justin himself!! Later, Justin said his conscience was clear after video evidence confirmed that the ball, indeed, did move. Now, he is playing with no penality. Does this mean his conscience is bothering him again? As Johnny Miller pointed out a few years ago, the Euros have the repuration of being very liberal with the rules....turns out Rose is no exception."

[k-troop]

Thanks Erik. It is odd, but I agree with it. The movement was extremely slight. Justin saw something, a wiggle or a twitch, and backed off. I'm guessing that with all that went on with Tiger, players don't know what to do. I'm not saying that they don't know the rule, but they're being put in the situation of having to call a penalty on themselves of face being called a cheater when they have no idea whether the ball actually moved.

[k-troop]

Go Jordan!!