Lexi Thompson's 4 Stroke Penalty at the ANA

[Nutsmacker]

17 minutes ago, iacas said:

Well… if they thought it was intentional she could have been DQed.

I think it was close...but I don't know how it is not intentional.  I mean, I wouldn't be busting her about it in my local club tournament...but there are people that play in my championship that would.  They would also be the butt of the jokes in the clubhouse.  So...I don't know.  

[Valleygolfer]

On 4/29/2017 at 2:46 PM, iacas said:

 

That is what I was thinking. Kinda dopey to keep doing this.

[boogielicious]

17 hours ago, Valleygolfer said:

That is what I was thinking. Kinda dopey to keep doing this.

Yes. She's going to learn the hard way again.

[MrDC]

It's cheating, she knows what she was doing and for whatever reason she wanted to move the ball over an inch on occasion.

She'll stop doing it now though, I bet most players on all the tours will no longer play the ball mark game.

 

Edited May 1, 2017 by MrDC

[RH31]

1 hour ago, MrDC said:

It's cheating, she knows what she was doing and for whatever reason she wanted to move the ball over an inch on occasion.

She'll stop doing it now though, I bet most players on all the tours will no longer play the ball mark game.

 

I wonder how often it happens unintentionally, just sloppy, on tour?

If a player puts their mark down behind the ball without referencing the hole, then replaces their ball directly in line with the hole, they could be off by what .25"+ ?

Somebody misses a putt, gets pissed, throws their mark down, snatches the ball away, never even looks at the hole.....

[iacas]

41 minutes ago, RH31 said:

I wonder how often it happens unintentionally, just sloppy, on tour?

If a player puts their mark down behind the ball without referencing the hole, then replaces their ball directly in line with the hole, they could be off by what .25"+ ?

Somebody misses a putt, gets pissed, throws their mark down, snatches the ball away, never even looks at the hole.....

If when you put a quarter down the nose of George Washington is by the ball, you know if you put it back by his neck.

It's not necessary or even important to reference the hole. Just note the part of the coin by the ball. It's your obligation to do so.

[MRR]

52 minutes ago, RH31 said:

I wonder how often it happens unintentionally, just sloppy, on tour?

I think someone risked that this past weekend.  An LPGA player marked from the side and picked up her ball.  She apparently placed it correctly, but coming in from the wrong angle can certainly cause someone to place the marker somewhere other than "directly behind the ball". 

I like Iacas's point about noting which part of the marker points to the ball.  Makes a ton of sense.

[mvmac]

34 minutes ago, iacas said:

Just note the part of the coin by the ball. It's your obligation to do so.

Yep I this is what I do as well, just makes it easier.

[WestKyGolfer]

1 hour ago, MRR said:

I think someone risked that this past weekend.  An LPGA player marked from the side and picked up her ball.  She apparently placed it correctly, but coming in from the wrong angle can certainly cause someone to place the marker somewhere other than "directly behind the ball". 

I like Iacas's point about noting which part of the marker points to the ball.  Makes a ton of sense.

I always mark with George looking at the hole. Just a habit.

[Fourputt]

I always mark directly on the line with the hole.  I place the marker behind the ball with the edge of the marker even with the edge of the ball when looking straight down at it.  I don't shove it under the curve of the ball, as I feel that it's more difficult to lift the marker cleanly if I have to slide it out from under the ball when replacing.  I realize that the new local rule removes the penalty for moving the ball in that situation, but I've marked that way for 30 years, so I don't see any reason to change.  I find it a very accurate method, more so than the way that most of the guys I play with do it.  I've played with some real sticklers for rules at times, and I've never had my marking process questioned.

[iacas]

1 hour ago, mvmac said:

Yep I this is what I do as well, just makes it easier.

I use these so it doesn't matter from which angle I mark - the ball fits in the rounded out area:

[sac1]

4 hours ago, MrDC said:

It's cheating, she knows what she was doing and for whatever reason she wanted to move the ball over an inch on occasion.



 

What seems to be forgotten or not realised by most here is that if you mark your ball anywhere but directly behind it and the line of the hole, is that if you then put it back in line with the hole then the ball is going to be closer to the hole every time!  The extreme case being when one marks it directly in front of the ball and puts it back with the marker behind the ball which gains a whole ball length + length of the marker(actually the bigger the marker the bigger the discrepancy in all situations) 

For Lexi it was just not moving the ball laterally that is the issue(was there a spike mike, imperfection?) , it was also gaining a real advantage every time she marked her ball she gets it closer to the hole.

To be fair I've only seen the two videos here of her marking her ball, but from the swift/methodical way in which she marked her ball on those two occasions, I'd say there is a fair chance she does it like that every time and that is what has got up the nose of some of her competitors( see my previous post for my theory there).

If anyone has the time to trawl for some more video of her marking putts Im sure it will make interesting viewing for all.

 

 

[GolfLug]

I honestly cannot believe that folks are still arguing that replacing the ball within a quarter inch of where it was marked is difficult to do every single time. Especially for a professional. Either they are apologists or just plain full of s**t.  

[rehmwa]

The Thread That Won't Die

(Yes I understand the irony of adding post of this nature)

[Shorty]

On 28/04/2017 at 11:52 AM, Jack Watson said:

For people who called her a cheater shame on you.  Look at her.  Time has passed and she's still a mess over this.

Thats not the reaction of a cheat.  A cheat would have a planned response.

 

She's a mess because she knows her squeaky clean image has been tarnished. She cheated and got busted. She didn't like that. 

[WestKyGolfer]

15 hours ago, Fourputt said:

I always mark directly on the line with the hole.  I place the marker behind the ball with the edge of the marker even with the edge of the ball when looking straight down at it.  I don't shove it under the curve of the ball, as I feel that it's more difficult to lift the marker cleanly if I have to slide it out from under the ball when replacing.  I realize that the new local rule removes the penalty for moving the ball in that situation, but I've marked that way for 30 years, so I don't see any reason to change.  I find it a very accurate method, more so than the way that most of the guys I play with do it.  I've played with some real sticklers for rules at times, and I've never had my marking process questioned.

Even before the local rule that would not have been a penalty as long as it was directly attributable to the marking or replacing of the ball.

[RH31]

19 hours ago, iacas said:

If when you put a quarter down the nose of George Washington is by the ball, you know if you put it back by his neck.

It's not necessary or even important to reference the hole. Just note the part of the coin by the ball. It's your obligation to do so.

I understand what you're saying. JFK is always facing the hole for me.

What I am referring to is tour play before the Lexi incident. Sure, some players lined up the nose or whatever and were careful to get it back properly. Some players weren't quite that careful.

[Fourputt]

2 hours ago, WestKyGolfer said:

Even before the local rule that would not have been a penalty as long as it was directly attributable to the marking or replacing of the ball.

Yes, I'm well aware of that, but the rule as previously written was imprecise.  The phrase "directly attributable" has the possibility of subjectivity to it (and has created a lot of debate here and elsewhere in golfing discussions).  Different people could read different limits on that phrase, and since I play tournaments in a club where the rules are enforced, I prefer not to give anyone the chance to even lift an eyebrow.  

Similarly, to cover my butt during competition I rarely take a drop, free or penalty, without consulting at least one of my fellow competitors.  By doing so I eliminate the possibility of being second guessed or challenged later on, even though I know the rules and know very well the correct on course procedures.

1 hour ago, RH31 said:

I understand what you're saying. JFK is always facing the hole for me.

What I am referring to is tour play before the Lexi incident. Sure, some players lined up the nose or whatever and were careful to get it back properly. Some players weren't quite that careful.

I see a lot of careless marking, even in the club tournaments that I play.  Casual golfers are sometimes quite "creative" about how they mark and replace the ball on the green.  It wouldn't surprise me to know that a tour player is careless at times.  It's such a simple process to get right that there is no excuse for not doing so.