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moderation Note to Media: Knee-Height Drops Make Sense!
DeadMan posted a blog entry in The Rules Chair
We're in that special hell of rules controversies with the implementation of the new Rules of Golf. There have been some growing pains with the new rules, and that has allowed the golf media to tee off on its favorite target, the USGA. Which, to be fair, can make itself an easy target: https://www.golfdigest.com/story/despite-harsh-words-from-some-tour-pros-usga-pleased-with-roll-out-of-new-rules-of-golf. That aside, I wanted to talk about the "controversy" about the knee-height drop that the Rules now require. Rickie Fowler got a one stroke penalty for dropping from shoulder height this past weekend. Cue the complaining from him: https://golfweek.com/2019/02/22/rickie-fowler-hit-with-one-shot-penalty-for-illegal-drop-at-wgc-mexico-championship/ I can forgive him - he just had a brain fart, probably didn't gain an advantage in this situation, it cost him money. I'm always annoyed when I get a penalty, personally, and it's absolutely never my fault, okay? But cue the pearl clutching from the media: https://www.golf.com/news/2019/02/25/backstopping-pro-tours-under-policed/ I'm here to tell you that this is wrong, and knee-height drops actually make a ton of sense. One of the best things the new Rules do is simplify dropping. Now, all you have to do when dropping is land the ball in the relief area (without touching you or your equipment before hitting the ground) and ensure the ball comes to rest in the relief area. If you don't do this, you have to redrop. Pretty simple. Yes, you have to figure out what your relief area is, but that's pretty simple, too. (For a fuller explanation of this, see Rule 14 and the definitions in the Rules of Golf.) The old rules were much more complex. Specifically, if your ball rolled to one of 9 areas after you dropped it, you had to redrop. For example, if your ball rolled more than 2 club lengths away from where your ball hit the ground, you had to redrop. You had to know all of these 9 areas to know if you needed to redrop or not. So, the new way is simpler, right? Instead of learning 9 different triggers for a redrop, you only have to learn 1. Great! Why am I talking about when you have to redrop? This is why we're dropping from knee height. Generally, under the new Rules, your ball cannot go as far after hitting the ground as it used to without triggering a redrop. Dropping from knee height reduces the chance that a redrop will be necessary. It also means that a ball has less of a chance of embedding in sand when you drop it. It makes a ton of sense, really. Now, you might say, that's all fine, but why not allow dropping a ball from anywhere above knee height? I think you could easily game the rules to be able to place the ball when you really want to by simply dropping from shoulder height instead of knee height. Think about dropping on a side slope, for example. You're much more likely to have to redrop and place if you drop the ball from a higher point. Sure, this is rare, but why take the chance? We're all on the same page, right? Knee-height drops make a lot of sense. (If you want to know more about the changes to dropping, this is an excellent article that talks about this in a bit more detail: https://rulesgeeks.com/2018/12/30-days-of-2019-rules-changes-day-16-procedure-for-dropping-a-ball-in-playing-it-from-a-relief-area/) Now to the point of all of this: golf media, please take 5 minutes to understand the rule before issuing a HAWT TAKE about the rule. The USGA has a one page sheet that explains the rule: http://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/rules-hub/rules-modernization/major-changes/new-procedure-for-dropping-a-ball.html. You don't come off very well when you fail to read that. I know it's fun and easy to just mindlessly bash the USGA, but they do get things right. This is one of them. (Oh and by the way, the Rules are actually really good, as a whole. Maybe I'll talk about that in another post later.) -
Matt Kuchar denies charge he paid local caddie just $3K during win Social media was abuzz Saturday evening on the subject of Matt Kuchar, but the man himself has noted there is nothing to see here. Tom Gillis, a former PGA Tour player and current PGA Tour Champion… I am surprised that nobody has talked about this yet.
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I didn't include an "I don't know" in the choices in the poll above because that's the only answer any of us should choose. Hell, even Tiger and Joe himself don't necessarily know if he's the best choice - Tiger just uses the available information to arrive at a decision. But I've been thinking for awhile now that LaCava may not be the best for him. Stevie Williams was, of course, Tiger's caddie for 13 of 14 majors. He split off from Tiger not too long after the Thanksgiving night stuff in 2009. One of Stevie's best qualities, IMO, was that he didn't take shit from Tiger, and he'd step up and let himself be heard when he had something to say. He made Tiger hit a 60° wedge instead of (IIRC) a 56° wedge on the 18th at Torrey Pines in 2008, going so far as to say something like "I know how much this means to you, and if you don't hit the shot you want, fire me on the spot, but I feel that strongly it's a 60 here." The recent Tiger Woods biography pointed out that LaCava stood by and did virtually nothing while Tiger was walking around and surveying his options and ultimately dropped in the wrong spot on the 13th hole at Augusta in 2013. In fact, I've almost never seen Joey LaCava step in and talk to Tiger when the situation may warrant it - to cool Tiger down when he's running hot, to get him to focus when he's getting sloppy, etc. Williams could be seen doing these things - and more - all the time. He'd engage. He'd put his opinion out there. He'd tell Tiger - again this is documented in the book - to get his head on straight and to pay attention, or whatever. Joe just seems to be a bag carrier. Maybe that's what Tiger wants. Maybe he has lost some of his drive and passion and just wants to be a happier, less focused guy on the course. Maybe he doesn't want to have a guy getting in his face demanding something during his rounds. I don't know. None of us do. But the poll intentionally only has "yes" or "no" as possible answers. So vote. I voted "no." I think Tiger needs a more forceful, direct, in-your-face type of caddie. I think he needs to be challenged more, I think he needs to be held in check more, and I think he needs someone who can slap him around a little bit when he starts to get off track.
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Zach Johnson's caddie Damon Green 'shocked' by split Damon Green had been Zach Johnson's caddie since 2003, and the duo won two majors and nine other PGA Tour events. There is talk that perhaps Damon hasn't taken care of himself as well as he should, and he's had to drop out of a few tournaments mid-round or mid-event in the past year. Dehydration, etc.
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https://www.golfdigest.com/story/jason-day-gets-personal-when-explaining-why-he-had-to-drop-colin-swatton-as-his-caddie To preserve the most important relationship in his golfing life, Jason Day had to cut loose the man who made that life possible. “I never wanted it to turn into a toxic relationship where he’s taken me from where I am as a 12-year-old kid to where I am today, and I’m not talking to him anymore,” Day said Wednesday in explaining why he has replaced Colin Swatton, his swing coach and his only caddie since he turned professional, on his bag starting at this week’s BMW Championship. “I was worried if I kept it going, it was going to head that way, and I love him too much to have him not in my life because of how special he is to me.” While Swatton will remain Day’s swing coach, his departure from his star pupil’s bag might be the most surprising in a year that hadn’t already seen Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy split with their longtime sidekicks.
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Steve Williams was very mad about having Adam Scott hit from a bad lie in an "unraked" fairway bunker. I would not want to be that guy. Did Steve ever find the bunker raking slouch? I agree with Adam Scott's caddie, this should not happen. They are professionals - right?
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I once caddied with Mike Smith As a 14-year-old, Mike Smith got assigned to caddie for Jack Nicklaus in the 1971 Ryder Cup at Old Warson CC. Now, some 45 years later, Mike is capping his career in golf as caddie master for the club that just hosted another major tournament, the U.S. Senior Amateur. Mike had various other golf industry stops before returning to Warson in 1993. Mike still caddies sometimes. During the just-completed Senior Amateur, he caddied for Randal Lewis who shot a 3-under 68 in the first stroke-play round. Here's the USGA story on Mike: Veteran Caddie Mike was there when I caddied at Old Warson from 1968-74. I was starting college when he was starting high school. Unlike Mike, I missed the September-slated Ryder Cup because I had transferred that fall from junior college to University of Missouri. But, I had gotten a taste of the big-time the previous June when I served as fore-caddie for a National Golf Day exhibition match in which Jack Nicklaus edged English star Tony Jacklin. Of note, both Mike and I played on the Meramec Community College golf team, although several years apart. And, Mike developed into a much better player than me. Mike and I first reconnected in 2009 when I volunteered for the U.S. Women's Amateur at Old Warson.
