PGA Tour Officials: Now Even Casual Fans Watching at Home Can Be One

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: January 8, 2011

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If you are a true golf fan, then this past Thursday was the happiest day for you in a month and a half. The PGA Tour's 2011 season officially kicked off with the annual Hyundai Tournament of Champions from Kapalua, Hawaii.

To be qualified for this event, you must have been a winner of any PGA Tour-sanctioned tournament from the previous year. This year's event featured 33 winners. Phil Mickelson opted not to make the trip, though he was eligible.

After the first round, however, we found ourselves now down to just 32 golfers in a tournament that sees all competitors play all four rounds. Camilo Villegas was promptly disqualified after posting a first round 1 under par, 72.

The fact that Villegas got disqualified is not the main cog to the story, as getting disqualified for any sort of rules infraction is not completely uncommon. The interesting, or frustrating, aspect of this story is how Villegas was disqualified. It wasn't by the rules officials overseeing the tournament or those walking with Villegas.

He was in fact disqualified because a fan watching at home saw his error and promptly called Golf Network as well as the tour, who later reviewed the tape and disqualified Villegas.

So what happened? After hitting an approach shot on the 15th hole, Villegas failed to get his ball up the hill of the green. In turn, the ball started to roll right back at him. As the ball was rolling, Villegas swatted a piece of debris out of the way.

Now, if you are like millions of Saturday golfers, you wouldn't have given it a second thought, but if you are one of those seven-day-a-week golfers who studies the rule book during the evenings as if there were going to be a pop quiz on it, then you know that it is in fact an infraction.

According to the book, "When a ball is in motion, a loose impediment that might influence the movement of the ball must not be removed." The purpose of the rule is si...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Golf

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