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The Masters: 2013

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Is there any doubt that Tiger wins today? If he does, there should be an asterisk put next to his name...he should have withdrawn. If he does win, it will taint his legacy forever.
 
Is there any doubt that Tiger wins today? If he does, there should be an asterisk put next to his name...he should have withdrawn. If he does win, it will taint his legacy forever.

Too far behind IMO. Too many good golfers ahead of him. I'm going with Adam Scott chance to redeem himself after last years loss to Ernie Els.
 
:chuckles:

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Tiger should have withdrawn from Masters after drop controversy

By MARK CANNIZZARO
Last Updated: 8:34 AM, April 14, 2013
Posted: 12:57 AM, April 14, 2013


AUGUSTA, Ga. — Tiger Woods’ only chance to leave this year’s Masters a winner would have been to disqualify himself before yesterday’s third round.

Woods, who represents countless millions of dollars to the TV networks when he is playing, was not disqualified by the Masters tournament committee yesterday after a review of what was determined to be an improper drop on the 15th hole of his second round Friday.

The tournament committee hid behind a revised rule of golf (Rule 33-7) that was nebulous at best, even before it was tweaked two years ago to protect players from being disqualified for signing a wrong scorecard when an infraction was discovered after the fact — such as via TV viewer call-ins.

For example, in 2011 in Abu Dhabi, Padraig Harrington did not see his ball move slightly after he removed his marker on the green, but a TV viewer emailed the European Tour to alert it that the ball moved, meaning, by rule, Harrington should have re-marked his ball.

By the time the email reached the tournament committee, Harrington already had signed for his score, which led to a disqualification for signing an incorrect scorecard.

Cases such as Harrington’s are the kind Rule 33-7 should protect, not in this case since Woods simply wasn’t clear on the rule. Rule 33-7 was not designed and tweaked to protect ignorance.

Masters officials completely bungled this. Competition chairman Fred Ridley claimed yesterday a TV viewer called tournament rules officials to alert them to Woods’ gaffe, which is what sparked the whole chain reaction.

If you believe that, then you believe you can score a Monday tee time at Augusta National with a phone call and fifty bucks. There is no way the Masters was going to allow itself to lose its star draw and mar its perfect tournament at its perfect course.

Everyone involved is a culprit in this mess. Oh, to be a fly on the wall in the damage-control meetings as the green jackets tried to sort this all out.

The only criticism that is unfair here is one that suggests Woods is a cheater. Woods might have cheated on his wife, but he is not is a cheater on the golf course.

After Friday’s round, Woods spoke openly about why he took the drop two yards behind the place of his original shot — because it gave him a better yardage from which to hit. If he was cheating, why would he have brought attention to that?

Now, with Woods, who shot 70 yesterday, at 3-under par and four shots out of the lead entering today’s final round, it is not out of the question for him to win his fifth Green Jacket.

Where, though, would a win today leave Woods — with an asterisk next to his name as the 2013 Masters champion?

What if Woods goes on to tie or break Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major championships and this year’s Masters is one of the notches on his belt? Will there be an asterisk next to the record?

Woods, whose image is anything but Wheaties box clean thanks to how insulated he is and the public mess he made of his private life 3  1/2 years ago, could have improved that image immeasurably had he done the honorable thing and withdrawn.

There is no doubt Woods got an unlucky break when his approach shot hit the flag stick on 15 and rebounded back into Rae’s Creek. The shot that was so accurate that it hit the flag stick ended up costing Woods four shots, possibly the tournament and a reputation further and forever tainted.

That’s why Woods would have been better off walking away from this Masters yesterday morning. It was the only way he could win this one.
 
Am I the only one surprised that the masters committee has to turn to viewers to correct their mistakes?
 
Am I the only one surprised that the masters committee has to turn to viewers to correct their mistakes?

The Masters Committee didn't make a mistake. Tiger and whichever one of his playing partners was keeping his score did. Plus, it's been common practice for quite some time for spectators to call in potential rules violations to be reviewed.

I don't see any problem with Tiger continuing to play. From my understanding of the rules, including the amendment in 2011, everything was done accordingly. Tiger took his penalty

Personally, I have no problem with people watching on TV calling these types of things in, but Bubba Watson made a good point. Not every shot, by every golfer is televised, so it's a little unfair to the guys who have to take these types of penalties. My take, it's a gentleman's game where you call penalties on yourself, the goal is to have an honest round and every bit helps.
 
If the field is bad enough to let Tiger come back and win today, he deserves to win. Wrong drop or not, he was basically out of it and if you let him take the green jacket home today then they're just bad.
 
Is there any doubt that Tiger wins today? If he does, there should be an asterisk put next to his name...he should have withdrawn. If he does win, it will taint his legacy forever.

I don't get this. Unless I'm misunderstanding the situation, when Tiger signed his card he wasn't aware that he was penalized the 2 strokes. He didn't know he was signing a faulty card. Why should he have been DQed or forced to withdraw for that?

I mean, I really don't like Tiger, I just don't get the hubub. Was it shady that he dropped the ball in the wrong spot? Yes, but under the rules that just gives him the 2 strokes, not a DQ.

My Grandpa is a freaking golf savant. I know he knows the sport but I had no idea how well. He can call things that will happen the same way I can in football or basketball. He predicted Couples meltdown way before it happened. Said it's basically become standard with him during longer tournaments since he's gotten older.

Gramps has been playing golf for years though, he was in the paper for hitting 2 hole in ones in the same round. He's 88 and now and I can beat him. I think that's the part that he hates the most about aging, his fading golf game.
 
I don't get this. Unless I'm misunderstanding the situation, when Tiger signed his card he wasn't aware that he was penalized the 2 strokes. He didn't know he was signing a faulty card. Why should he have been DQed or forced to withdraw for that?

This is isn't about forgetting to swap score cards or not seeing the ball move a fraction of an inch after placing your ball on the green. He knows this rule...everyone does. He knowingly gained an advantage and then signed the wrong score. That's a DQ. His own interview was the damning evidence. He said he backed it up for a better distance, it was less wet and to change the grain.


It makes no sense what the officials did...they changed the rules for ratings. What's the point of rules if you aren't going to enforce them? If it was Vijay instead of Tiger, he would have been DQ'd.




Sir Nick Faldo was just one of those here appalled by Woods deciding to tee off his third round yesterday.

“He should really sit down and consider this - it will taint his legacy and his life,” he said. “I would be saying: ‘I have broken the rules of golf’. Sometimes the black and whiteness is harsh, but Tiger would get massive brownie points if he stood up and said: ‘Fair enough, I’ve broken the rules’ and walked.”

Explaining why he believed Woods was wrong to play on, Faldo said: “Tiger gained an advantage intentionally. He said so himself. He was judge and jury. If he goes on to win what kind of asterix would he have next to this Masters? Arnold Palmer said that in our game the integrity of golf must be taken forward. We are custodians of the game. We must carry it forward.”

David Duval concurred. The former world No 1 is a Nike stable-mate of Woods, but was in doubt what would be the principled course of action. “I think he should WD. He took a drop to gain an advantage,” he tweeted.

Even some of Woods’s best friends were of that opinion. John Cook is a regular practice partner of Woods. “Even if they told me I could play, I would slam my trunk and be on my way up the road,” he said.

For his part, Woods released a statement before teeing off in the company of Spain’s Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano explaining what had occurred.

“At hole 15, I took a drop that I thought was correct and in accordance with the rules. I was unaware at that time I had violated any rules. I didn’t know I had taken an incorrect drop prior to signing my scorecard. Subsequently, I met with the Masters Committee Saturday morning and was advised they had reviewed the incident prior to the completion of my round.

“Their initial determination was that there was no violation, but they had additional concerns based on my post-round interview. After discussing the situation with them this morning, I was assessed a two-shot penalty. I understand and accept the penalty and respect the committee’s decision.”

Woods’s approach to the 15th hit the pin and bounced back into the water, and after deciding not to play from the designated drop zone, he opted to play from the same area after a penalty drop.

Under rule 26-1a, a player must take their drop “as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played”, but Woods said in a post-round interview that he opted to go “two yards further back” because of the grain and because he now knew the distance he had to hit it. His second ball proceeded to roll within a few feet, from where he made bogey.
 
If you think Tiger should have withdrawn, I'm going to respond with this:

RaceCard.gif



Now what were you saying?
 
Tiger isn't going to win today anyway. I really had Snedeker winning going into the final round but Cabrerra is on a hot streak. Jason Day is on his game as well. Should be a good ending and hoping for a playoff.
 
Really hoping to see Day or Scott pull this out. Cabrera getting a second jacket does nothing for me.
 
Really hoping to see Day or Scott pull this out. Cabrera getting a second jacket does nothing for me.

He speaks no English and needs a translator in the post round interviews. Really makes it hard to pull for him.
 
I'm fine with the language barrier. I really have no idea why I can't bring myself to root for him.

Btw, this tournament just got busted wide open with Cabrera going into the creek.
 
I'm fine with the language barrier. I really have no idea why I can't bring myself to root for him.

Btw, this tournament just got busted wide open with Cabrera going into the creek.

He's 20 ft back after the drop. He's going to bogey and Day will lead outright.
 

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