The Rules Geek: Decision 33-7/4.5 Overhauled for Video Age

Editor’s note: The Rules Geek is an occasional and potentially annoying feature at ARMCHAIR GOLF.

THE DAYS WERE NUMBERED for Decision 33-7/4-5. Armchair rules officials glued to their high-def TV screens have for some time been emailing and tweeting rules violations, banishing tour pros such as Camilo Villegas and Padraig Harrington to DQ Land for turning in scores they thought were correct, only to later learn they made a boo-boo.

It had all gotten rather silly. The way things were going, half the tournament fields might have been sent home by year’s end for rules infractions. Thankfully, The R&A and USGA stepped in to rework the decision about disqualification. This from their statement:

This revision to Decision 33-7/4.5 addresses the situation where a player is not aware he has breached a Rule because of facts that he did not know and could not reasonably have discovered prior to returning his score card. Under this revised decision and at the discretion of the Committee, the player still receives the penalty associated with the breach of the underlying Rule, but is not disqualified.

As for ignorance of the Rules, The R&A and USGA will still have none of it, a stance that makes the Rules Geek a proud card-carrying member of those august bodies:

In revising the decision, The R&A and the USGA confirm that the disqualification penalty still applies for score card breaches that arise from ignorance of the Rules of Golf. As such, this decision reinforces that it is still the responsibility of the player to know the Rules, while recognizing that there may be some rare situations where it is reasonable that a player is unaware of the factual circumstances of a breach.

You can read the new language for Decision 33-7/4-5 here. I think we can all rest better now.

The Rules Geek sez rules were made to be followed. Got a rules-related tip or story? Send it to The Rules Geek at armchairgolfer@gmail.com.

More Rules Geek:
Camilo Villegas and the Divot DQ
Bad Behavior Down Under?
Juli Inkster and the Donut DQ
Phil Mickelson and the Proper Drop
Abnormal Ground Conditions Aid Amateur
Hunter Mahan’s Driver Replacement

(Photo credit: westy48, Flickr, Creative Commons license)

2011 Honda Classic TV Schedule and Tournament Notes

THE 2011 HONDA CLASSIC is underway at PGA National Champion Course in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Spencer Levin is the early leader with a 3-under 67. There are a handful of 68s in windy conditions.

Purse: $5.7 million
Winner’s share: $1.008 million
Defending champion: Camilo Villegas


Inside the field
Inside the course
Tee times
Tournament overview
Tournament news
Interviews
ShotLink: PGA National Champion Course
Honda Classic website



2011 Honda Classic Leaderboard


TV SCHEDULE

TV coverage of the 2011 Honda Classic is on Golf Channel and NBC.

Thu, 3/3:
GOLF 3p - 6p ET

Fri, 3/4:
GOLF 3p - 6p ET

Sat, 3/5:
NBC 3p - 6p ET

Sun, 3/6:
NBC 3p - 6p ET

SIRIUS-XM broadcast times

−The Armchair Golfer

Was Harrington DQ a Result of Online Job Scam?

ACCORDING TO AN ANONYMOUS source, ARMCHAIR GOLF has learned that an online job scam may be contributing to the rash of rules violations reported by television viewers. A few weeks ago, Camilo Villegas was disqualified at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Hawaii. Padraig Harrington is the latest victim. The Irishman was disqualified on Friday at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship.

Some observers have thought these frequent rules incidents were coincidental. But ARMCHAIR GOLF has learned that something more sinister may be afoot, an online job scam that has armchair rules officials glued to their television sets. Work-at-home scams are nothing new. Yet, with unemployment rates at a 30-year high, people are much more susceptible to questionable money-making ploys.

The source tipped off ARMCHAIR GOLF to one of the latest scams that is apparently landing in email in boxes around the globe:

GET PAID HUNDREDS TO WATCH TV!
Join one of the fastest-growing work-from-home opportunities. Become an independent golf rules official and make hundreds of dollars per month watching golf on television. You will be recognized as an expert on the Rules of Golf and uphold the honor of the game by reporting rules violations to tour officials and other governing golf bodies. No experience necessary. Get started today! (URL withheld.)

“I’ve seen these work-from-home deals before and knew it was probably too good to be true,” the source said after not receiving a payout for reporting a violation.

“But when you’ve run out of work options like I had, you’ll try just about anything. Now I feel guilty about what I did. I’ve stopped watching golf completely.”

Apparently, tour players aren’t the only victims in these rules-obsessed times. So are innocent golf fans with too much time on their hands.

−The Armchair Golfer

(This is an ARMCHAIR GOLF spoof.)

(Photo credit: cmiked, Flickr, Creative Commons license)

The Rules Geek: Camilo Villegas and the Divot DQ

Editor’s note: The Rules Geek is an occasional and potentially annoying feature at ARMCHAIR GOLF.

CAMILO VILLEGAS UNKNOWINGLY BREACHED Rule 23-1 during the first round of the Hyundai Tournament of Champions and was disqualified the following day for signing an incorrect scorecard. Had Villegas known the rule and called a two-stroke penalty on himself, he would have played another day at the Plantation Course. Actually, had he been aware of the rule he probably wouldn’t have violated it to begin with.

The three-time PGA Tour winner flicked away loose pieces of grass as his golf ball rolled down a slope toward him and his divot on the 15th hole. That’s a no-no.

Rule 23. Loose Impediments. 23-1. Relief reads, in part, “When a ball is in motion, a loose impediment that might influence the movement of the ball must not be removed.”

A short while later, Villegas signed for a 72. It should have been a 74. The infraction was tweeted to Golf Channel and the PGA Tour by a TV viewer. After seeing what he did, Villegas accepted the disqualification as gracefully as could be expected.

“While it is obviously a disappointing way to start the season,” he said in a statement, “the rules are the rules, and when something like this happens, it’s important to me that you’re respectful of the game and the people involved.”

The TV viewer faced a backlash as is often the case, noted PGA Tour rules official Jon Brendle. But the The Rules Geek has to ask: Why don’t the players have a better handle on the rules?

Veteran Rocco Mediate said on a scale of 1 to 10, players are about a “5” when it comes to knowing the rules. “And that’s being nice,” he said.

That doesn’t cut it. Don’t cry about TV viewers, players. Read The Rules of Golf. Read a few pages each night and you’ll be through the book in a few weeks. Also, don’t forget to read those local rules sheets.

The Rules Geek sez rules were made to be followed. Got a rules-related tip or story? Send it to The Rules Geek at armchairgolfer@gmail.com.

More Rules Geek:
Bad Behavior Down Under?
Juli Inkster and the Donut DQ
Phil Mickelson and the Proper Drop
Abnormal Ground Conditions Aid Amateur
Hunter Mahan’s Driver Replacement

(Photo credit: pattoncito, Flickr, Creative Commons license)

The Byrd Man of Kapalua

ALTHOUGH I CONFESS I was mostly watching the NFL playoffs, I’m inclined to say it was a solid start to the PGA Tour season. The Hyundai Tournament of Champions at the Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort had an exciting finish and its share of side drama. Jonathan Byrd outlasted Robert Garrigus in a sudden-death playoff to take the season opener. It was Byrd’s fifth and most prestigious win, coming in a winners-only field.

After being in jeopardy of losing his PGA Tour card late in the 2010 season, Byrd has won two consecutive starts, both of them in playoffs. Talk about breathing new life into your game and career. Byrd has banked some serious coin and jumped 63 places in the world ranking to No. 58. I don’t think he’ll be sweating his card this year.

“I’m pretty overwhelmed,” the 32-year-old former Clemson University golfer said.

Garrigus blew a long putt by the cup on the second playoff hole and rimmed out the come-backer, which was definitely in the “throw-up” range. Nonetheless the gregarious Garrigus is not down on himself. He likes his start to the 2011 campaign.

“It’s not that big a deal,” said the man who last season shook off a collapse in Memphis and won the Children’s Miracle Network Classic. “I get a nice check [$635,000] and I get to go next week and relax and have some fun.”

Makes sense to me.

I still can’t get over Robert’s putter. It’s 28.5 inches. It looks like he stole it from a kid’s starter set. But, hey, whatever gets the ball in the cup. He made 26 birdies and two eagles, and ranked 11th on the greens. Not a bad week at all.

The opener also had enough subplots to keep it from being a tropical yawner with Tiger and Phil absent. Defending champion Geoff Ogilvy had a freak injury to his right-index finger that forced him to withdraw. Camilo Villegas had a rules infraction that got him DQ’d the day after it went down. Graeme McDowell tore it up on the final 18 and nearly caught Byrd and Garrigus at the finish, signing for a 62.

And Dustin Johnson and Natalie Gulbis are sweet on each other, I read.

A new tour season is underway, golf fans. As they say in those Bud Light spots, “Here we go.”

−The Armchair Golfer

The Golf Art of Steven Anthony Salerno

“ART CELEBRATING THE GREATEST game ever played.” That’s the message in small print as the site of Steven Anthony Salerno loads. Steven granted me permission to “hang” a few samples of his limited edition golf prints at ARMCHAIR GOLF, a fitting way to end the week. He offers signed limited edition prints in a handful of categories: Bethpage series, Pebble, greatest golfers, golfscapes and more. All are printed on 100 percent cotton rag archival fine art paper with brilliant permanent pigment inks.

Salerno’s golf art has been featured on PGATour.com in the Player Spotlight feature section, including portrait images of tour players such as Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker, Mike Weir, Padraig Harrington and Camilo Villegas.

Steven can play the game, too. As a teen, he won the Vermont Junior Amateur Championship. As a young man, he worked as an assistant golf professional at The Yale Golf Club and Racebrook Country Club in Connecticut. Salerno is a graduate of Parsons School of Design in New York City.

Visit his online gallery at SASgolf.com.


















−The Armchair Golfer

(Images used with permission of Steven Anthony Salerno.)

Ian Poulter Visits ‘Fat Booth’

IAN POULTER HAD SOME FUN yesterday with the Fat Booth application and posted links to the photos on Twitter. It got a little crazy. Fat pics of Lee Westwood, Graeme McDowell, Bubba Watson, Tiger Woods, Colin Montgomerie, Camilo Villegas, Rory McIlroy, LeBron James, Justin Rose and Phil Mickelson turned up. Poults couldn’t stop himself. He was laughing his fat head off.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Visor tip to Golf.com.)

From Parks to Molinaris: Golf’s Greatest Brothers

FRANCESCO AND EDOARDO MOLINARI will be the first brothers to compete on a Ryder Cup team since Bernard and Geoffrey Hunt represented Great Britain in the 1963 biennial matches. Francesco, 28, qualified on points, and Edoardo, 29, was a captain’s pick after a late-season run that included wins at the Barclays Scottish Open and last weekend’s Johnnie Walker Championship.

“I don’t think I have to tell you who his [Edoardo’s] partner will be in the fourballs or foursomes,” said Colin Montgomerie, the European team captain.

The Molinaris are just the latest brother act to make a splash in professional golf. They have three European Tour wins between them, which means they’ll need to rack up a lot more titles before they catch many of the following brother tandems.

(Image: 1961 PGA champion Jerry Barber was a short-game wizard.)

Lloyd and Ray Mangrum
Hailing from the pre- and post-World War II era, the Mangrums have the most wins, 41. Lloyd, the younger brother, was a great player, winning 36 titles, including the 1946 U.S. Open in a playoff against Vic Ghezzi and Byron Nelson. Nelson called Mangrum, a Hall of Famer, the best forgotten golfer. Ray won five times between 1936 and 1946.

Jay and Lionel Hebert
With five PGA Tour titles apiece, the Heberts didn’t come close to the Mangrums. But they did something only one other brother act (that I know of) has done: they both won majors. The younger brother, Lionel won the PGA Championship in 1957. Big brother Jay won the PGA in 1960. How cool is that? Jay, I’ve been told, had a picture-perfect golf swing.

Willie and Mungo Park
Willie Park Sr. won four Open Championships from 1860 to 1875. Mungo, his younger brother, won the Open in 1874. And Jr., Willie’s son, won it twice. Talk about keeping it in the family.

Harry and Tom Vardon
The great Harry Vardon, the namesake of the Vardon grip and Vardon Trophy awarded annually to the PGA Tour player with the lowest scoring average, won the Open Championship a record six times. His older brother Tom played in the Open Championship (but never won) and later went to America to take a job as a club professional.

Lanny and Bobby Wadkins
Lanny, the younger Wadkins, had a Hall of Fame career that included 30 wins, one major and several Ryder Cup appearances. Bobby won once on the European Tour and twice on the Japan Golf Tour, but never won in a long PGA Tour career, racking up six runner-up finishes. He’s won four times on the Champions Tour.

Jerry and Willie Barber
Jerry was a great putter who won seven times on tour, including the 1961 PGA Championship, during which he made 120 feet of putts on the last three holes to tie Don January. Then he beat January in a playoff. Jerry also played on two Ryder Cup teams. Willie, his less-famous brother, was a club professional and very good player who once joined yours truly for nine holes in the California desert.

Bernard and Geoffrey Hunt
Bernard had more than 30 professional wins and played on eight Ryder Cup teams. His brother Geoffrey joined him on the 1963 team, but they didn’t play together in any matches.

Camilo and Manuel Villegas
Camilo, of course, is the rising star who has three PGA Tour wins. Manuel is his baby brother who teed it up with Camilo at the St. Jude Classic and has played sporadically on the Nationwide Tour.

MORE BROTHERS

Following are the 12 brother combinations who have won on the PGA Tour. Four of the seven Turnesa brothers won on tour, as did three Smith brothers, of which Macdonald was the star. (The year of first official victory and career wins are in parentheses.)

Alex Smith (1906/2)-Macdonald Smith (1924/24)-Willie Smith (1899/1)
Tom Kerrigan (1920/4)-George Kerrigan (1922/2)
Al Espinosa (1924/8)-Abe Espinosa (1928/3)
Lloyd Mangrum (1940/36)-Ray Mangrum (1936/5)
Jim Turnesa (1951/2)-Joe Turnesa (1924/15)-Mike Turnesa (1931/6)-Phil Turnesa (1932/1)
Lionel Hebert (1957/5)-Jay Hebert (1957/5)
Dave Hill (1961/13)-Mike Hill (1970/3)
Don Massengale (1966/2)-Rik Massengale (1975/3)
Joe Inman (1976/1)-John Inman (1987/2)
Danny Edwards (1977/5)-David Edwards (1980/4)
Curt Byrum (1989/1)-Tom Byrum (1989/1)
Brad Bryant (1995/1)-Bart Bryant (2004/3)

−The Armchair Golfer

(Sources: PGA Tour Media Guide and Wikipedia)

Greetings from the Puerto Rico Open

I AM PLEASED TO be writing from Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, tonight. ARMCHAIR GOLF is attending the 2010 Puerto Rico Open this week as the guest of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company. Played opposite of the WGC-CA Championship at Doral, this is the third year the PGA Tour has teed it up in Puerto Rico. Michael Bradley is the defending champion.

The tournament venue is the Trump International Golf Course, a Tom Kite design (Tom will be here). The championship course is a part of the vast Gran Melia Resort, my accommodations for the week. I must say, this is the perfect respite after such a long, cold, icy winter.

So check back for PGA Tour golf from near old San Juan, served up fresh and hopefully tasty. Lastly, congratulations to Camilo Villegas for his win at the Honda Classic.

–The Armchair Golfer

2010 Honda Classic TV Schedule and Tournament Notes

UPDATE:
Click here for 2011 Honda Classic TV schedule and tournament info

THE 2010 HONDA CLASSIC is being played at PGA National Resort and Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Camilo Villegas and Anthony Kim share the 36-hole lead.

Purse: $5.6 million
Winner’s share: $1.008 million
Defending champion: Y.E. Yang

Inside the field
Inside the course
Tee times
Full tournament news
The live report
What players said
Photo gallery

2010 Honda Classic Leaderboard

TV SCHEDULE

Six hours of weekend TV coverage are on tap for the 2010 Honda Classic.

Sat, 3/6:
NBC 3p - 6p ET

Sun, 3/7:
NBC 3p - 6p ET

PGA Tour radio coverage

−The Armchair Golfer

2010 Waste Management Phoenix Open TV Schedule and Tournament Notes

UPDATE:
Click here for 2011 Waste Management Phoenix Open TV schedule and tournament info

THE 2010 WASTE MANAGEMENT PHOENIX OPEN is underway. The current leader is Camilo Villegas, who blistered TPC Scottsdale, well known among Phoenix golf courses, with a first-round 62.

Purse: $6 million
Winner’s share: $1.08 million
Defending champion: Kenny Perry

Inside the field
Inside the course
Tee times
Full tournament news
The live report
What players said

2010 Waste Management Phoenix Open Leaderboard

TV SCHEDULE

Fourteen hours of TV coverage are on tap for the 2010 Waste Management Phoenix Open.

Thu, 2/25:
GOLF 4p - 8p ET

Fri, 2/26:
GOLF 4p - 8p ET

Sat, 2/27:
GOLF 4p - 7p ET

Sun, 2/28:
GOLF 4p - 7p ET

PGA Tour radio coverage

−The Armchair Golfer