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Woods Penalized for Illegal Ball Drop Woods Penalized But Can Still Play
(about 2 hours later)
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Tiger Woods was assessed a two-stroke penalty on Saturday for taking an illegal drop on the 15th hole of the second round of the Masters a day earlier. AUGUSTA, Ga. — Tiger Woods was three strokes off the lead in the Masters when he completed the second round at Augusta National Golf Club on Friday. But he began his third round five strokes behind the leader Jason Day after being assessed a two-stroke penalty on Saturday for an illegal drop on the 15th hole of the second round.
Woods was three strokes off the lead when he completed the second round at Augusta on Friday. But Woods will begin his third round Saturday afternoon five strokes back of the leader Jason Day after being assessed the penalty for the illegal drop. Woods, 37, was summoned to Augusta National hours before his tee time Saturday with his participation uncertain for the third round of a tournament he has won four times.
Woods, 37, could have been disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard. But after reviewing the incident with Woods, the rules committee at Augusta National chose to add two strokes to Woods’s score and allow him to play the weekend. The ruling was first reported by Golf Channel’s Steve Sands. He could have been disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard. But after reviewing the episode with Woods, the rules committee at Augusta National chose to add two strokes to Woods’s score and allow him to play the weekend. The committee invoked Rule 33-7, which allows a penalty of disqualification to be waived or modified in exceptional cases. The rule addresses the issue of armchair rules officials’ calling in or posting to Twitter violations that are clearly inadvertent.
The committee invoked a rule, 33-7, which allows a penalty of disqualification to be waived or modified in exceptional cases. The rule was added in 2011 to address the issue of armchair rules officials calling in or posting to Twitter violations that were clearly inadvertent. On the hole in question, a 530-yard par 5, Woods laid up. His approach shot clanked off the flagstick and caromed into the water. After taking a one-stroke penalty, Woods dropped his ball in the fairway, a few feet behind his original divot, and hit a wedge shot to within three feet and made the putt for a bogey 6. After the ruling, his score was changed to an 8.
On the hole in question, a 530-yard par 5, Woods laid up. His approach clanked off the flagstick and caromed into the water. He took a drop two yards behind his original divot and hit his approach to inside three feet. In his comments after his round, he seemed to incriminate himself when he explained his thought process on the drop. When choosing to drop near one’s divot, a golfer should play his ball “as nearly as possible” at the spot from which the original ball was last played. After his round, Woods said he purposely dropped the ball two yards from his first divot.
The rules state that a golfer should play his ball “as nearly as possible” at the spot from which the original ball was played. Woods did not sound like someone who was making the drop as close to the original spot as possible when he said: “Well, 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 two yards further back, and I took, tried to take two yards off the shot of what I felt I hit.” He said: “Well, 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 two yards further back, and I took, tried to take two yards off the shot of what I felt I hit.”
“And that should land me short of the flag and not have it either hit the flag or skip over the back,” he said. “I felt that that was going to be the right decision to take off four right there. And I did. It worked out perfectly.” The committee’s decision not to disqualify Woods, a 77-time winner on the PGA Tour, reinforced how the rules of golf, once clear, have grown blurry. From the definition of a legal putting stroke to the enforcement of slow play, there has been confusion about the way to interpret and apply the rules. On Friday, Guan Tianlang, a 14-year-old amateur from China, became the only known player in Masters history to be assessed a one-stroke penalty for slow play, which is endemic on the tour. Many players in the field wondered why Guan was singled out when some professionals routinely play with great deliberation and are never penalized with strokes.
Woods, a four-time Masters champion in search of his 15th major title, has been guilty of a rules infraction already this year, which cost him a weekend of work. In the second round of his season opener in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, he missed the cut after being penalized two strokes for wrongly taking a free drop. His ball was embedded in sand, from which there is no relief. Woods had played his way into contention for his 15th major championship and his first major title since 2008. The possible violation by Woods was brought to the tournament’s attention by a television viewer.The rules committee reviewed his drop while his round was in progress and had seen nothing wrong. Hearing Woods’s explanation brought the issue of intent into play, and so he was asked to explain his thought process while preparing for his fifth shot.
On Friday, Woods was asked for his thoughts on the one-stroke penalty for slow play assessed to Guan Tianlang, the young player from China. “Well, rules are rules,” he said. After speaking to Woods, the rules committee issued a statement that said: “After he signed his scorecard, and in a television interview subsequent to the round, the player stated that he played further from the point than where he had played his third shot. Such action would constitute playing from the wrong place.”
The statement added: “The subsequent information provided by the player’s interview after he had completed play warranted further review and discussion with him this morning.”
It was the second time this year that Woods had been penalized for an illegal drop. In the second round of his season opener in Abu Dhabi, he missed the cut after taking a two-stroke penalty for wrongly taking a free drop.
Some people said that Woods should disqualify himself from the Masters. On Golf Channel, Nick Faldo, a six-time major champion, called on Woods to “do the manly thing” and withdraw.
David Duval, a former world No. 1, wrote on Twitter: “I think he should withdraw. He took a drop to gain an advantage.”
Others agreed with the decision. Graeme McDowell, the 2010 United States Open champion, wrote: “Take the fact that it was Tiger out of the equation and it is a fair ruling. Since it is him, the debate begins about TV ratings, etc., etc.”
On Friday, Woods was asked for his thoughts on the penalty assessed to Guan, who ended up making the cut on the number. “Well, rules are rules,” he said.