The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
TV evidence must count
Mercifully, Sergio Garcia’s emotional Masters win last week was not affected by the latest example of golf’s trial by TV.
To recap, if you’ve forgotten, when tangled up in the woods on 13 as the Green Jacket seemed to be slipping from his shoulders, Sergio took an unplayable in the “pinestraw” , and then moved some loose impediments.
Some thought he moved his ball in doing so. I’ve watched the video back 20 times or more; the first time I thought it moved, but on repeated viewings it’s perfectly clear that it doesn’t. That first time is an optical illusion.
The Masters committee ruled swiftly to dismiss any suggestion of a rules breach and Sergio eventually got his incredible five, caught Justin Rose and won in the play-off.
And we all lived happily ever after. Except some are drawing a wholly erroneous correlation between Sergio’s Trial by TV and that of Lexi Thompson in the LPGA’s ANA Inspiration a week before.
If you’ve forgotten, Lexi incurred a four-shot penalty for marking her ball incorrectly, a rules infraction that only came to light due to a TV viewer alerting rules officials after the fact.
Lexi’s error occurred on the 17th of Saturday’s third round but she wasn’t informed and the penalty applied until she was six holes from home, two shots ahead in the final round. She bravely rallied but eventually lost a play-off to So Yeon Ryu.
Lexi’s heartbreak angered the golfing world. Whoever called in with the TV evidence might be lynched if they were identified. The popular vision is of a sad, self-important couch potato wrecking the dreams of America’s current golfing sweetheart.
Except if you watch Lexi’s mistake, it’s actually obvious; she quite clearly moves her ball around her marker. It’s probably just a careless bad habit, but it’s the kind of bad habit when repeated that got Scot Elliot Saltman labelled a cheat and banned a few years back.
I’m drawn to David Eger, the only so-called “couch potato ref” of these occasional instances to have ever been clearly identified.
Far from being the stereotype identified, Eger was a distinguished amateur player, Champions Tour pro and a qualified and experienced referee. He was the man “outed” as the viewer who alerted officials to Tiger Woods’ erroneous drop at the 15th in the 2013 Masters.
Eger had himself officiated at Augusta in the past. He had even dealt with “callin” rules infractions himself on occasion.
In this case, he said later, his motivation for calling in was to stop Woods signing his card and getting a further penalty.
Interviewed later, he made the point from his experience on the other side of the phone line that “call-ins” are dealt with on their merits by officials, they weigh the caller’s “credibility and knowledge”. In other words, it’s not just any old Joe Schmoe they listen to.
Eger also – correctly in my opinion – dismissed the old chestnut that leading players are unfairly stigmatised by call-ins because the TV cameras show them more often than the rest of the field.
This doesn’t ever stand up to serious scrutiny. It’s like saying that all CCTV footage of crimes being committed should be dismissed because there aren’t cameras everywhere. Evidence is evidence no matter what form it takes.
I also like Michael Bamberger of Sports Illustrated’s take, which is that if golf is all about self-policing integrity as it repeatedly claims than players should welcome more intense scrutiny.
I don’t think Lexi intentionally cheated, and I think the four-stroke penalty was too harsh – two strokes would have done. But the reaction to her misfortune is miles over the top.
I just wonder how it would have gone down had it been a Korean who was the victim of the call-in.
Pelley’s strange affiliation
The crazy things you see on the internet…no, not there, this is a family newspaper.
I happened to come across an interview with European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley on Canada’s sportsnet site asking how this son of the Maple Leaf is after 20 months in his job.
They ask whether Keith has yet picked a soccer team on this side of the Atlantic, and he answers “not yet but if we did, it would probably be in Scotland, and it would be Dundee FC”.
Double take. But…how?
It’s actually obvious. There is a Dark Blue mole at Wentworth in the shape of the European Tour’s Head of Media Scott Crockett.
Scott formerly worked at this august journal and in his time here developed an avid love of the Dee bordering on obsession which has not diminished in his years in the south.
His proudest moment during the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles was not the winning of it but taking the trophy to Dens to parade before a Dundee game.
Has my old friend and colleague been badgering Pelley into the realms of the Dark Blue Nation?
“My work here is clearly done,” was his proud reply.
And the Dee could do with every high profile fan they can get at the moment...
It’s the kind of bad habit when repeated that got Scot Elliot Saltman labelled a cheat and banned a few years back