Sorry Couch Police; No More Rules Violation Call-ins Allowed
Happy New Year! It about time.
The last mainstream sport to allow viewers to call-in potential rules infractions will no longer do so beginning on Jan 1. Yes, the USGA and R&A came to their senses. Yup, better late than never.
No more self-appointed couch rules officials pointing fingers to affect penalties, raise confusion on the course and cause abject embarrassment to all involved. The group – which includes the PGA Tour, European Tour, LPGA tour and PGA of America – also voted to stop considering viewer call-ins when processing potential rule violations.
Plus, a new local rule was announced that will discontinue the penalty for signing an incorrect scorecard when the player was unaware of the violation.
Beth Ann Nichols adds that Lexi Thompson was finally vindicated.
Missed calls, even in the days of instant replay, are a part of all professional sports leagues. Golf is not an exception. Removing video call-ins puts the onus of integrity back where it belongs – on the field.
Kreusler, like many, has believed from the beginning that there never was an infraction in Thompson’s case. Not one caddie, player, spectator or rules official standing around the 17th green voiced a concern on Saturday over the way Thompson marked her ball. Nor did the rules official who was watching the broadcast live.
He points to the NFL, which won’t overturn a ruling on the field of play unless video evidence is conclusive, as the logical standard.
“We were bombarded by MIT scientists and engineers who begged us not to let that penalty stand,” said Kreusler, pointing to the lack of varying camera angles on the 17th green.
Golf.com’s Josh Sens reports that the recent chaos involving Lexi Thompson, Dustin Johnson and Anna Nordqvist were too ridiculous to sweep under the rug.
“The message we’re putting out to fans is, What you’ve seen, we’ve seen. Have confidence in us running the event,” said Thomas Pagel, USGA senior director of rules and amateur status. “We want you to be a fan. Enjoy watching the world’s best players. Let the rules be handled inside the ropes between the players and officials.”
Monday’s announcement represents the latest effort to cope with the double-edge sword of video technology, which has allowed for greater fan engagement but also turned spectators into self-appointed police officers while subjecting players to what many see as unfair levels of scrutiny.
Under the protocols set for Jan. 1, officials reviewing video will only look at footage provided by the tournament’s broadcast partner. Video from other sources, such as mobile phones or individual cameras, will not be taken into account.
Golfweek’s Martin Kaufman chimes in.
The rules-makers agreed with that sentiment and adopted a local rule, available Jan. 1, that would eliminate that penalty if the player was unaware of the infraction. The scorecard penalty will be eliminated permanently in 2019 when the USGA and R&A release a sweeping overhaul of the Rules of Golf.
“There was just a level of controversy that was not good for the game,” Pagel said of the Thompson flap. “It was very unhealthy. People said, ‘The original breach is fine. If you’re going to penalize a player, penalize a player. But there’s no need to add on to that.’ The working group stepped back and said, we agree with that. There’s no need to add on an additional two-stroke penalty.”
Similarly, Pagel said many of the rules changes that will take effect in 2019 are intended to do away with what he called “unnecessary penalties.”
“A lot of the stuff that people are looking to call penalties on from home – a good majority of those penalties go away with the rules modernization code,”
he said.
LPGA commissioner Mike Whan said he was pleased with the rule change and the speed with which it was adopted. He dislikes viewer call-ins and said that after the Thompson fiasco, the LPGA began assigning a staffer to monitor TV coverage for possible infractions.
“As a golf fan myself, loving watching these players play at this level, I had the same sort of frustration as some of our fans had,” Whan said. “To me, there were certain cases where the rules, when written, probably didn’t ascertain 700 times the naked eye of super slow-mo. And sometimes I think we had a few rules where the penalty doesn’t match the crime.”
Good for golf. Good for the players. Good for all involved.
