Two-shot penalty - fair enough?

[MarkT]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1380311045210836992

Ancer was handed two shots extra after this happened at the 15th...

 

[Oddsocks]

There will be mixed views on this, personally if the card was signed and in and accepted prior to the discovery then it’s shouldn’t be applied, but then some could deem that cheating in its own right. Definitely a tough one.

 

[Imurg]

There's no doubt he touched the sand going back.
Did it improve his lie? Maybe 1%
Did every other bunker shot have the same camera angle and close up? I doubt it very much.
I think it's harsh but as he's Fragger's Captain in the Fantasy league the penalty should have been doubled!

 

[fundy]

ridiculous imho, no doubt the rulies will all have got a little overexcited when they first saw it and no doubt theyll be along to ask which other rules its ok to break etc etc.....

golf shooting itself in the foot again for me

 

[Oddsocks]

The fact the club contacted the ground 4 - 6 inches behind the improved lie shows it made no difference to his splash shot. Secondly the bunker was clearly raked I consistently and finally from his angle it would be almost impossible to see the clump and he clearly kept the club hovering at all times.

Bad call!

If your going to call this then every single bunker needs the same HD footage from every angle

 

[Orikoru]

I think that's very harsh. It was a wisp of sand, I'm pretty convinced there's no way he did it knowingly, plus it probably made next to no difference to the shot. Rules are rules I guess, once the footage was highlighted they probably felt they had to.

 

[USER1999]

It's not exactly in the Patrick Reed level of lie improvement is it.

 

[Beedee]

I thought they'd changed the rules to remove trial by TV?

 

[rksquire]

Harsh for sure, wouldn't have been noticed had it not been for camera and angle of the camera. However, evidence is there for all to see so strictly speaking it's a 'fair' penalty. As someone has referenced him above, would it be a fair penalty if Patrick Reed had been filmed doing it?

 

[Deleted member 16999]

Embarrassing for the game imo, as someone previously stated, unless they now scrutinise every bunker shot to the same level using the same technology then it is wrong they accept it as evidence.

 

[Swango1980]

I think he should be disqualified and banned from professional golf for 10 years for pure cheating

 

[IanM]

I thought they'd changed the rules to remove trial by TV?

so did I

 

[Jimaroid]

The rule is pretty clear. If you don't want to be penalised don't touch the sand. And if that means taking care and addressing the ball higher than you would normally so that you don't touch the sand, that's what you do.

 

[clubchamp98]

Fair enough it’s the same for everyone who goes in that bunker.
As stated if Reed had done it people would call it cheating.
Does look like there is a small mound of sand and that’s what he caught.
It’s in the rules so no complaints. Bit unlucky that’s all.

 

[harpo_72]

He grounded the club, you can’t question it the rules state no grounding in the bunker. Time and again I see people jump in the bunker and do this .. now we have a high profile case, hopefully people will understand the rules.
I wouldn’t call him a cheat, he needs to just be more careful

 

[Blue in Munich]

It's not exactly in the Patrick Reed level of lie improvement is it.

Maybe he should have done, he might not have been penalised...

 

[KenL]

He grounded the club, you can’t question it the rules state no grounding in the bunker. Time and again I see people jump in the bunker and do this .. now we have a high profile case, hopefully people will understand the rules.
I wouldn’t call him a cheat, he needs to just be more careful

Are you not using preferred lies at present?

We need the like of @rulefan to give their expert opinion.

 

[Swango1980]

Are you not using preferred lies at present?

We need the like of @rulefan to give their expert opinion.

Note sure that is relevant to this rules infringement

 

[KenL]

Note sure that is relevant to this rules infringement

Thanks for jumping in. The person I was replying to said he saw people doing this.

My suggestion was to get a rules expert to comment, is that you?

Sorry, I'm in a bad mood.

 

[Neilds]

In my opinion, there is a difference between grounding a club in a bunker and touching the sand. I feel that to ground something you have to make definite pressure into the sand and not just brush it. Maybe this definition needs to be added to the rules to stop these stupid rulings