Trial by TV has no place in golf

Watching the World Cup in Russia, it has been fascinating to see the impact VAR has had on proceedings.

Football has followed both rugby codes, cricket and tennis in embracing technology to make crucial decisions.

It somewhat leaves golf out on its own in the use of video technology. But I sincerely hope it stays that way.

If anything, golf is trying to move away from the trial by television that has been used in recent years.

Our sport did not suit the examples of viewers at home, watching on their expensive TV sets and ringing in to report the slightest ball movement that is beyond the human eye.

There was an incident in last week’s Travelers Championship where Zach Johnson was penalised a shot after a TV review.

As his birdie putt remained on the lip of the hole, he walked up to it and then waited for too long before it dropped in.

Rule 16-2 states that, having walked at normal speed to his ball, a player has 10 seconds before he must strike it.

As it turned out, Johnson waited for 16 seconds and was subsequently punished.

I’m disappointed with the twotime Major winner because TV should not have been needed. He and his playing partners should have known that rule anyway. But what I can now guarantee is that everyone in golf will have been given a gentle reminder, and it won’t happen again for a while. We also had the use of technology in last month’s Shot Clock Masters in Austria, with the use of a clock to time how long players were taking.

That was our own trial, and I felt very uncomfortable with it.

It questioned the integrity of the players as the idea was saying: ‘ We don’t trust people to play within the rules of the game’.

Golf stands or falls by the etiquette of the players. You are your own referee on the course.

The lessons that I was taught when I took up the sport are the same ones I am now passing on to my 11-year-old grandson.

At a tournament, the player is his or her own referee. Then there are the playing partners.

At all Majors, there is a rules official with every group and, beyond that, more can be called upon if there is a serious issue. I don’t think we need someone sat in front of a TV screen on top of that.

There is a very serious stigma in our sport – at both professional or amateur level – if a player is less than 100% clean.

It’s why there has been such an uproar over Phil Mickelson’s actions at the US Open. What happened on the 13th green at Shinnecock Hills basically amounted to cheating, and Phil will have to live with that for the rest of his career.

I prefer to think back to Darren Clarke at the 2006 Irish Open.

He had hit into the rough before play was stopped for bad weather. When he came back the next day, his lie was much better than it would have been.

Yet Darren chipped out sideways rather than go for the green as he could have done.

He preferred to punish himself, because he felt it was the right thing to do.

I sincerely hope that is what most golfers, professional or amateur, would do when faced with a similar situation on the course.