Tiger Woods and Tianlang Guan...Who Got the Penalty They Deserved?

Anyone who has been reading my blogs for awhile knows that sometimes I epitomize the old aphorism, "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread." Well here we go. ~~~~~ Tiger Woods was given a two-shot penalty for a bad drop but was allowed to stay in the Masters Golf tournament after his shot on the par-5 15th hole of the second round on Friday hit the flag stick and bounced back into the water. I saw the shot live and I have to say, dear readers, I have never seen anything like it. It was heart-wrenching to watch a nearly perfect approach shot turn into a water hazard penalty. Well, Tiger took his penalty drop two yards behind where he hit the original shot, which was a rules violation. Augusta National reviewed the incident Saturday morning before the third round began and assessed the two-stroke penalty for an improper drop. Woods had a 73 instead of a 71 and went into the weekend five shots out of the lead. But the Masters Committee didn't disqualify him for signing an incorrect scorecard under a new rule - announced at the Masters two years ago - that allows a player to stay in the tournament if a rules dispute was based on television evidence. Here is Tiger's explanation of what happened : "At hole 15, I took a drop that I thought was correct and in accordance with the rules. I was unaware at that time I had violated any rules. I didn't know I had taken an incorrect drop prior to signing my scorecard. Subsequently, I met with the Masters Committee Saturday morning... and was advised they had reviewed the incident prior to the completion of my round. Their initial determination...was that there was no violation, but they had additional concerns based on my post-round interview. After discussing the situation...with them this morning, I was assessed a two-shot penalty. I understand and accept the penalty and respect the Committees decision." While the violation was apparent, Augusta National took the blame by saying its rules committee reviewed a video before Woods finished his round Friday and determined his drop was within the rules. The club said a television viewer prompted the review. Golf is the only sport where TV viewers act as rules officials. If they see a violation and it turns out to be true, a player must be penalized. Here is how Tiger had initially described his drop : "I went back to where I played it from, but went two yards further back and I tried to take two yards off the shot of what I felt I hit," Woods said Friday after he signed for a 71, leaving him three shots out of the lead. "And that should land me short of the flag and not have it either hit the flag or skip over the back. I felt that was going to be the right decision to take off four (yards) right there. And I did. It worked out perfectly." He hit that fifth shot to about 4 feet and made the putt for bogey. Rules 26-1 says that if a player chooses to go back to his original spot, the ball should be dropped as "nearly as possible" to the spot where it was last played. Photos and video shows his ball dropped at least a yard behind his previous lie. ~~~~~ Let's now skip to the 1-stroke penalty assessed on Chinese teenager Tianlang Guan for slow play on the back nine at Augusta National on Friday. The stroke penalty was harsh, and it seems unfair. It put Guan, the 14-year-old phenomenon, in danger of missing the cut. (He ended up making the cut.) Guan was warned three times. If there is one thing about golf (and Augusta National) that never changes, it's that the rules are unbendable. On Friday afternoon, Fred Ridley, the chairman of the competition committees, released this : "Tianlang Guan was assessed a one-shot penalty for violation of Rule 6-7 of the Rules of Golf and the Tournament's Pace of Play Policy. His group which included Ben Crenshaw and Matteo Manassero, was deemed out of position on No. 10. Guan began being timed on Hole 12 and received his first warning on Hole 13 after his second shot. In keeping with the applicable rules, he was penalized following his 2nd shot on the 17th hole when he again exceeded the 40 second time limit by a considerable margin." Would another player have been hit with this penalty? Probably not - because another player would know how to walk that clock line without crossing it. PGA Tour players play every round understanding the slow-play rules. They know when they are on the clock. Some of them push the limits - and their peers complain about slow play - but they rarely if ever get penalized. They know what they can do, and what they can't. Tianlang Guan didn't know. He told ESPN that he kept going back and forth between clubs because of the changing winds. It's easy to blame the rules official, John Paramor, but it's his job to keep play moving, not to 'baby' first-time 14-year-old players. And it would be easy to somehow blame Augusta National, because Guan is an outsider at the ultimate insider's course. But the fact is Augusta National has been exceptionally accommodating to Guan. He was allowed to play the course all week. He was given star treatment. His playing partners were sympathetic but clear. Crenshaw, a two-time Masters champion, said he was "sick" about the penalty, and that the wind made club selection a challenge for everybody. But he also said, "There's no question he played slowly at times." Manassero said, "We all feel sorry, but this is the way professional golf goes, and he's going to be here … by the time he comes here, he's going to be ready and he's going to have fixed that particular thing." Manassero was given several chances to say the penalty was unfair. He wouldn't do it. But he did say this : "If I would have taken more time on 16, I probably would have saved two shots, as well." He didn't take more time, we may presume, because he knew he was being timed. And the double bogey he made at 16 dropped him to five over par, when a par would have put Manassero comfortably in under the cut line. These rules are part of competition. Guan put himself on the line when he showed up at Augusta. ~~~~~ So, here's my opinion, for what it's worth - from someone who has played and loved the game since I was 10 years old - someone who played with a father who was a European military sub-par competitive golfer - someone who has played with a brother who can quote the rules before you know that a rule even applies. My opinion is that Tianlang Guan was propetly penalized for slow play. It was a tough lesson for a young boy but he will be a better member of the pro golf fellowship because of it. Tiger Woods - who may well be the best technical golfer of all time, but who knows what Hogan or Snead or even Nicklaus or Palmer would have done with Tiger's physical training and club choices -- as Jimmy Connors said when asked who was the best tennis player in history, "Put them on a court with me using a wood frame gut-laced racket and we'll see who's the best." So, as for Tiger Woods, he knew he was favoring his lie to improve his chances. He said it himself. He signed his score card knowing that. He should have been disqualified.