After 14 year old Tianlang Guan got the one shot penalty for slow play , does Augusta hold tiger's feet to the fire ?
http://www.businessinsider.com/golf-world-outraged-about-tiger-woods-ruling-2013-4
( Tiger faces the classic no win situation here - the classy move , the only move where Tiger / the Masters / the Golf Community wins is if he withdraws..... )
Pro golfers, golf writers, and TV commentators are up in arms that Tiger Woods was only given a 2-stroke penalty for his illegal drop on the 15th hole yesterday.
Tiger said last night that he dropped his ball two yards behind his previous spot, clearly violating the rule that you must drop "as nearly as possible" to your original spot.
He was allowed to stay in the tournament under a new rule that allows players to retroactively fess up to unknowingly violating a rule.
Golf people are not happy about it. They say that the new rule is B.S., and Tiger should DQ himself to save the integrity of the game.
Nick Faldo went on the Golf Channel and said Tiger disqualifying himself would be "the manly thing to do." He added, "He should really sit down and think about this and the mark this will leave on his career, his legacy, everything."
The Golf Channel's Brandel Chamblee said, "The right thing to do here for Tiger and the game is for Tiger to disqualify himself."
David Duval said on Twitter that Tiger should withdraw from the tournament.
Golfer Shane Lowry said, "This is a joke. In my opinion anyone else would have been DQ'd. When you sign for the wrong score that's what's supposed to happen."
Golf bloggers and writers are similarly stunned that he was only given a 2-stroke penalty.
This is in stark contrast to fans and golf non-diehards, who just want to watch Tiger Woods play golf this weekend and aren't all that invested in the "integrity of the game."
Here's the disparity between the two drops:
and....
http://www.businessinsider.com/tiger-woods-disqualified-masters-illegal-drop-2013-4
UPDATE: Tiger Woods will NOT be disqualified according to golf reporter Geoff Shackelford. He will just be assessed a 2-shot penalty.
Is Tiger Woods facing disqualification at Masters?
Updated: 8:21 a.m. ET.
Did Tiger Woods' actions after he drenched his third shot on No. 15 Friday at Augusta result in him signing an incorrect scorecard, which would result in his automatic disqualification from the Masters?
There's a possibility. Robert Lusetich of FOX Sports reported early on Saturday morning that officials were meeting to discuss whether or not Woods would be disqualified:
We should have an answer to the Woods question by the time Bubba Watson hits the first tee shot of the first round at 9:25 a.m. ET.
There was a lot of speculations late Friday night, but no definitive answer. So while no conclusion has been reached, let's walk through the events in question.
After his round Woods said about his shot into the water at 15:
"I went down to the drop area, that wasn't going to be a good spot, because obviously it's into the grain and it was a little bit wet."“So it was muddy and not a good spot to drop. So I went back to where I played it from, but I went two yards farther back and I tried to take two yards off the shot of what I felt I hit."
Two yards farther back.
Woods had just dunked his third shot in the water in front of the green, walked to the edge of the water, walked back to the spot where he hit the shot and dropped his ball two yardsbehind the spot of his original shot.
He then hit that shot (his fifth) 3 feet from the pin and tapped in for bogey.
So why might he be disqualified?
It has to do with the drop, per USGA rule 26-1:
It is a question of fact whether a ball that has not been found after having been struck toward a water hazard is in the hazard. In the absence of knowledge or virtual certainty that a ball struck toward a water hazard, but not found, is in thehazard, the player must proceed under Rule 27-1.If a ball is found in a water hazard or if it is known or virtually certain that a ball that has not been found is in the water hazard (whether the ball lies in water or not), the player may under penalty of one stroke:a. Proceed under the stroke and distance provision of Rule 27-1 by playing a ball as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played (see Rule 20-5); orb. Drop a ball behind the water hazard, keeping the point at which the original ball last crossed the margin of the water hazard directly between the hole and the spot on which the ball is dropped, with no limit to how far behind the water hazard the ball may be dropped; or
Woods apparently didn't choose "a" because two yards (as he said in his post-round interview) isn't "as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played." Although I admit "as nearly as possible" is incredibly vague so I suppose this is still an option for what Woods did.
And the second choice, "b," is in question as well (there is a "c," but it doesn't apply here).
According to this explanation by the USGA regarding "b," when a player's ball crosses a hazard three times (which Woods' did -- the front of the water, the back of the water and the roll into the water after the ball careened off the pin), this is how the drop is supposed to play out:
If a ball last crossed the margin of a water hazard as described in the situation above, it appears that the ball crossed the margin of the hazard three times (e.g., first, the initial time it crossed; second, when it crossed over the hazard onto land; and third, when the ball rolled back into the hazard). So when the Rule states that the ball must be dropped “keeping the point where the ball last crossed the margin of the water hazard directly between the hole and the spot on which the ball is to be dropped,” it is referring to the third (final) time. It is the reference point for the 26-1b option only.
Did Woods keep the point where the ball last crossed the margin of the water hazard "directly between the hole and the spot on which the ball was dropped?" It's hard to tell. It looked on TV like the ball shot off to the left, not between where Woods dropped and the hole.
If Woods played an incorrect ball, according to rule 20-7 he should be penalized 2 strokes and would have, theoretically, incorrectly signed his scorecard -- an automatic disqualification.
Whether Woods did anything wrong has sparked enough chatter about his possible disqualification to make us get very familiar with this portion of the rule book.
The Masters 2013: Tiger Woods facing potential disqualification over incorrect drop on 15th hole
Tiger Woods could face disqualification from the 77th Masters after an alleged illegal drop shot on the 15th hole during his second round of 71 on Friday.
11:30AM BST 13 Apr 2013
110 Comments
The incident occurred when the World No 1's third shot on the par-five 15th hit the flag stick and span back into the water.
He chose against playing from the drop-zone and instead went back to where his original shot was played. He then – by his own admission – moved two yards back, before producing a superb shot to limit the damage to a bogey.
But USGA rule 26-1 says that Woods should have played his second attempt as near as possible from the spot of the first – not two yards back.
After his round, which left him three-under for the weekend, he said: "I went down to the drop area, that wasn't going to be a good spot, because obviously it's into the grain, it's really grainy there.
"And it was a little bit wet. So it was muddy and not a good spot to drop. So I went back to where I played it from, but I went two yards further back.
"I tried to take two yards off the shot of what I felt I hit - that should land me short of the flag and not have it either hit the flag or skip over the back.
"I felt that that was going to be the right decision to take off four right there. And I did. It worked out perfectly."
http://www.businessinsider.com/tiger-woods-disqualified-masters-illegal-drop-2013-4
Tiger Woods Might Get Disqualified From The Masters For An Illegal Drop
Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images
The controversy has to do with a possible illegal drop on the 15th hole.
Tiger was 87 yards from the hole when he hit his third shot in the water. Under the rules, he had to drop his ball "as nearly as possible" to the original spot of his third shot.
But in the post-match interview on ESPN, Tiger seemed to say he knowingly dropped it "two yards further back" from where he hit the third shot.
He said, "I went to where I played it from, but I went two yards further back and tried to take two yards off the shot [into the water]."
If he knowingly violated the rule, he would have had to give himself a one-stroke penalty.
But that quote is relatively vague. He could have been saying that he tried to hit the spot on the green two yards back from where he did originally.
If it is deemed that he took an illegal drop, he will be disqualified for signing his scorecard with a score of 71 and not 72.
Tiger is three back of the lead right now. It would be an enormous decision to DQ him, to say the least.
