Jeff Overton To Rules Staff: Please Coddle Me A Little More!

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From Stephen Hawkins' AP story on Jeff Overton, who was DQ'd for using a putting alignment aid mid-round after an official told him he could putt while a 10th tee backup worked its way out.

Soon after coming off the course, Overton tweeted "3 group back up at the turn. Rules official tells me we can practice chipping and putting. Disqualified for using my practice putting aid!"

Overton immediately followed that with another tweet, "Why do rules officials initiate that conversation to begin with. I wouldn't even have gone up there if I had know that. What a joke!"

Going to a designated practice area is permissible during a round, but use of artificial or instructional devices isn't. The penalty is disqualification.

"If ur gonna inform someone on a rule of something a person can do, make sure u remind them of the small things they can't do," Overton added on (at)JeffOvertonPGA.

How could that darned official not know that Overton uses a putting aid? Why, it's what all the kids do these days!

Or, Jeff could go to Rules School? Or, use your brain to wonder if you should ask before pulling out the aid? Or, I don't know, maybe have a caddy who would wonder if that's a good idea? It's got to be anybody by the players' fault!

The Overton Tweets for posterity: 

Golf Central's report starts at the 13 minute mark.

Randall Mells's explanation of the decision and rule 14-3/10.3.

And a flashback story on Juli Inkster's DQ for the same reason, only hers was at the hand of a TV viewer.

Sergio Nibbles Back: We Don't Make A Difference To Each Other!

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If you didn't know they were grown men who whap a ball around manicured grounds and get paid lavishly to do so, you'd definitely have to wonder what happened on the first date with Sergio and Tiger. Actually we know, it was at Bighorn and it's been all downhill since.

Paul Mahoney with the full backstory in case you've been in a coma and Sergio's retort to Tiger's succinct "no" on any potential hatchet-burying. Someone please pair these two jilted golfers with Vijay, chop, chop!

"First of all, I don't have his number. And secondly, I did nothing wrong and don't have anything to say to him. And he wouldn't pick up the phone anyway. But that's OK; I don't need him as a friend. I don't need him in my life to be happy and that's fine. It's as simple as that. Like I have always said, I try to be as truthful as possible," Garcia said. "That's why I think sometimes most of the people love me and some hate me. I understand that but I'm not going to change. That's what makes me who I am and that's what makes me happy. And that's what makes the people I care about happy because they know they can trust me. Tiger doesn't make a difference to my life. And I know that I don't make a difference to his life."

Bae Can Avoid Military Service With A Major Or Medal

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Reading John Strege's account of Sunday's HP Byron Nelson and the CBS telecast, there was this:

Faldo also predicted that Bae won't be "a flash in the pan." Bae is banking on that as well, aiming as he is to represent South Korea in the Olympics in 2016. Military service is mandatory in South Korea and he has yet to fulfill his obligation, but an Olympic medal or a major championship would exempt him from service.

How about a Players Championship?

The final round highlights:

Guan Lands Memorial Exemption

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Well at least the 14-year-old Masters cut-maker Tianlang Guan won't be missing any school for this one. Right?

For Immediate Release...

Chinese Amateur teen sensation Tianlang Guan to compete in the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance  
 
Dublin, Ohio – Officials of the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance announced today that 14-year-old Chinese amateur sensation Tianlang Guan has accepted an exemption to compete in the 38th edition of the Memorial, May 27 – Jun 2 at Muirfield Village Golf Club.
 
Tianlang last month became the youngest player to make a cut in a major championship in PGA TOUR history when he finished 58th at The Masters Tournament with a 12-over-par 300 aggregate total. His invitation to the first major of the season came by way of his victory at the 2012 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship. A native of Guangzhou, China, Tianlang followed up his performance at Augusta National Golf Club by making the cut two weeks later at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, where he finished 71st at 4-over 292. Last week he missed the cut at the HP Byron Nelson Championship after rounds of 70 and 77.
 
“I am very excited to accept the invitation to play at the Memorial Tournament,” Tianlang said. “It is Jack Nicklaus’ event, and the same as all the golf fans out there I have very high respect to Mr. Nicklaus, not just as a golf legend, but also as a great person. He has been actively involved in the development of golf in China, and junior golf development worldwide, and as a junior golfer myself I appreciate what he has done to help us grow. My parents and I got the chance to meet him in person at the Masters, and that was one of the highlights of my week at Augusta National. I appreciate a lot the Memorial Tournament for having me there, and it is going to be a great week.”
 
Tianlang is ranked No. 78 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.

“The Memorial Tournament has been a strong supporter of amateur golf since its inception, and each year the winners of both the U.S. Amateur and British Amateur are always invited to participate,” said Memorial Tournament Founder and Host Jack Nicklaus. “With the Asia Pacific Amateur Championship becoming such an important event in the game of golf, and with the winner earning an invitation to The Masters Tournament and a spot in International Final Qualifying for the British Open, the Captains Club thought it was only appropriate to offer an invitation to the Memorial Tournament. We hope that in the future, we can make this a standard policy with our exemptions.

Another Tiger Drop Debate; Grassy Knoll In Play

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Jay Busbee breaks down the latest Tiger Woods ball drop controversy, the third this year (as Bob Harig noted in his story about the situation at 14 tee Sunday at The Players). The Big Lead has about two minutes of the telecast posted.

After watching the recording multiple times, reading the description of the shot and hearing NBC's Mark Rolfing describe it, that at best, playing partner Casey Wittenberg's assertion appears to be a stretch when suggesting where the ball crossed the hazard. As quoted in an unbylined AP notes story:

"He asked me exactly where it crossed," Wittenberg said. "I told him I thought it crossed on the corner of the bunker, right where he took his drop. And it's all good."

I'm guessing Sergio Garcia wouldn't have seen it this way based on the commenters here who could smell trouble right from the get go and also had some wise follow-up observations.

At least based on the blimp shots and the obvious skepticism from Peter Jacobsen and Johnny Miller, the ball would have had to have flown very straight, then hooked hard at the end. It does not take a genius to see by Tiger's reaction and the video, that the hook was immediate, not late as Wittenburg's drop point would require.

As noted in Harig's story, the PGA Tour's position was clear: this was the call of Woods and his playing partner Casey Wittenberg with help from Mark Rolfing of NBC. Since Woods took his eye off the ball by the time it made the purpoted late hook, he could not speak with certainty about where the ball crossed the hazard. The call is Wittenerg's then.

The PGA Tour's Mark Russell, as quoted by Harig:

"They both saw it," Russell said of Woods and Wittenberg. "They're back there with a television commentator [NBC's Mark Rolfing], who basically agreed with them. He said he hit a high hook. The problem is on television, that area looked the same, and they thought he dropped up there where it splashed. He dropped it 60 yards back of that. The players had the view of it."

What caused the doubt for me was this statement by Rolfing speaking of hazard stakes by tees on the fairway side of the lake, no where near where the ball crossed:

"It looked like it was over water at this point, if not before."

"Before" seems to be what the video and screen captures suggest.

Here is the overview photo of the hole as taken from the blimp, which did not appear to move much and had what seems like a very good angle to capture the tee shot's general flight.

Below is the "at this point" Rolfing refers to, which appears to be well right (from the player perspective on the tee) of the entry point detailed in the third photo.


Thanks to all the readers who sent in this YouTube analysis by filmmaker John Ziegler dissecting Tiger's 14th hole tee shot, questionable drop and NBC coverage of the situation.  Now, it should be prefaced by saying this video was put together by a  filmmaker who is devoted to clearing Joe Paterno's name in the Sandusky affair, not exactly a cause for the ages. Still, Ziegler makes some strong points and calls out Rolfing's shift from his original call to supporting the drop location even as Johnny and Peter Jacobsen are so clearly not buying the assertion.