Woman Golfer Loses Major Championship After At-Home TV Viewer Rats Her Out For Rules Violation
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. -- Lexi Thompson had no idea why LPGA Tour rules official Sue Witters was approaching her on the way to the 13th tee during the final round at the ANA Inspiration.
When she found out, Thompson still couldn't believe it.
A television viewer's email had alerted officials to a day-old rules violation by Thompson for a 1-inch ball placement error. Her 3-shot lead had just been wiped out by a 4-shot penalty.
"Is this a joke?" Thompson asked Witters.
After being assured it wasn't, she responded: "This is ridiculous".
Thompson, 22, survived the shock and tears, and she forced a playoff with three birdies that had the Dinah Shore Course crowd on its feet.
But So Yeon Ryu managed to take advantage of the break created by Thompson's extraordinary penalty.
Ryu birdied the playoff hole to win the LPGA Tour's first major of the year Sunday after Thompson was blindsided for an infraction she had accidentally committed 24 hours earlier.
Thompson, the U.S. Olympian who won here in 2014, was left stunned by the decision that stopped her from cruising to what looked like an easy victory. The ruling cost her more than a strong chance at her second major title: Ryu won $405,000 with the victory, and Thompson went home with just over $250,000 in second place
The fateful email arrived during Sunday's final round, alerting officials to the violation committed Saturday. Thompson marked a 1-foot putt with a coin on the 17th green during her third round, but she replaced the ball perhaps 1 inch out of position.
After an extensive video review, Thompson was penalized 2 strokes for an incorrect ball placement and 2 strokes for an incorrect scorecard. Witters regretfully explained the penalty to Thompson.
"I can't go to bed tonight knowing I let a rule slide," Witters said. "It's a hard thing to do, and it made me sick, to be honest with you."
Thompson fought back tears after getting the news, but she incredibly birdied the 13th hole. She battled back into a five-way tie for the lead, making three birdies and a bogey on the final six holes of regulation at Mission Hills Country Club.
"It's unfortunate what happened," Thompson said. "I did not mean that at all. I didn't realize I did that. I felt strong through the finish, and it was great to see the fans behind me."
Golf fans on the course and the internet reacted with bewilderment and outrage when the LPGA's decision became understood. Tiger Woods immediately came to Thompson's defense on Twitter.
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It is ridiculous. If the officials monitoring the players don't catch it, let it freaking go.
Will we now see viewers calling in advice on penalties in NFL games?
Actually John, if the public had been allowed to make calls, there were a few that I would have liked to have personally reviewed during the World Series last fall. I suspect that you would have too. Some of those umpires really needed glasses (and a strike zone that stayed in one place for the whole game and didn't widen out for the Cleveland pitchers).
I agree. As viewers and fans we would like to change a lot of calls. They don't let us though.
This strikes me as a black eye for golf.
It is ridiculous. If the officials monitoring the players don't catch it, let it freaking go.
I agree. A fan is a spectator, which does not make them officials or participants. If the officials don't pick up a foul, it's not cheating, it's part of the game.
And you're right, TV viewers will think they can overturn an official in every game from the Wimbledon Championships to Makepung Buffalo racing.
All NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB and all sports will now be officiated by the public.
This will lead to better decisions in all of these sports. /s
If she put the ball down an inch away from the marker instead of right on it shouldn't even matter. An inch isn't going to change the path to the hole.
All NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB and all sports will now be officiated by the public.
You left out Pasuckuakohowog.
It had rules?
It had rules?
Apparently not.
" There are records that show it was played in the 17th century. The game was played on beaches with goals about a half-mile-wide and set one mile apart. Up to 500 people usually played Pasuckuakohowog at one time, while many games had up to 1000 players. Pasuckuakohowog was a dangerous game and was played almost like a war . Players would often have to quit due to broken bones or other serious injuries. Pasuckuakohowog players wore ornaments and war paint to disguise themselves from retaliation after the game. The game would often last for hours and sometimes carry over to the next day. "
Pasuckuakohowog is a Native American game similar to football .
She cheated. She got caught. Duh.
Moving the ball one inch is not cheating. In all likelihood she did it subconsciously.
Next time she will be more careful.
Watch the video. She had a putt of maybe a foot and a half, and she moved her ball forward an inch. She picked it up, did nothing with it (didn't clean it, for example), and put it down an inch closer to the hole.
That's not an error. That's cheating.
Saw the video. Pro golfers make that putt 99 times out of 100 (or more) and moving the ball one inch wouldn't help her. I think it was unconscious as she just absentmindedly moved the ball a smidge more away from the coin before she picked the coin up for good.
One of the guests on a sports talk show today had an interesting theory.
One of the rivals for the tournament lead could have had a group of people watching the play on tv trying to find a rules infraction by one or more of the other leaders.
Sounds crazy but who can rule out anything nowadays.
As far as I know the LPGA hasn't adopted an instant reply rule. The officials missed an innocent mistake and her Saturday scorecard should have stood as official and correct since the officials had already accepted it as so with no issues at the time they did. Once they accept the scorecard as correct, that's it. They had their chance to call any fouls.
Where does it end? I mean are we going to start going back to every game of golf ever played on TV and review them too? Start changing scores from they 1960's? Maybe Palmer didn't really win as many games as we think? Let's review all of his games and see if we can add or subtract from his total?
That's a solid argument. Statute of limitations. There has to be one, and you're right that the officials' acceptance of the card ends the day. Full stop.
So it doesn't matter whether she cheated or not. She shouldn't have been penalized.
Well to me this sounds like if you're watching the World Series and you're playing game 5 and some viewer emails in the a pitch was called a ball the day before in game 4, but should have been called a strike so the winning team should have lost and the Ump reviews the tape, agrees and takes the game away from what was the winning team and gives the victory to the other team. That game was over the day before and finished. It was in the books and official. It just doesn't make sense to go back and change it.
The NBA reviews all dubious calls, and sometimes states that a call was wrong. The game's result is never overturned.
The LPGA rule is that reviews and penalties can be applied at any time until the end of a tournament.