Jordan Spieth reads a putt throughout the 2024 Genesis Invitational.
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Certainly one of golf’s most controversial and punitive guidelines was simply modified — {and professional} golfers are more likely to endorse it.
In keeping with a memo despatched to PGA Tour gamers on Tuesday, an modification was made relating to the foundations surrounding “When a Scorecard is Returned.” Efficient instantly, gamers will now have a 15-minute buffer to right an error on a scorecard even when they’ve already left the scoring space.
The information was first reported by Related Press golf author Doug Ferguson on Sunday, though Tuesday’s word from the Tour offered additional particulars.
In keeping with the memo:
— If a scorecard is validated within the scoring system and the participant has left the scoring space, he might return to right an error inside quarter-hour of its validation.
— If a participant has left the scoring space and an error is recognized earlier than the scorecard is validated within the scoring system, he might return to right the error inside quarter-hour of the error being recognized by the scoring official.
— If a participant is within the scoring space when the quarter-hour expires, his scorecard is returned when he leaves the scoring space.
The PGA Tour clarified to GOLF.com that gamers who signal incorrect scorecards can be notified by the Tour. At that time they’d have quarter-hour to return and resolve the difficulty with out penalty or disqualification. The Tour added within the memo that there could also be exceptions, nevertheless, “when constraints throughout the competitors restrict a participant’s correction time to lower than quarter-hour, similar to releasing tee instances following the minimize, beginning a playoff, or the shut of the competitors.”
The scorecard penalty or disqualification has lengthy been certainly one of golf’s most controversial guidelines. Its most well-known instance got here on the 1968 Masters, when the late Roberto De Vicenzo thought he was about to face Bob Goalby in a Monday playoff. However enjoying associate Tommy Aaron incorrectly gave De Vicenzo a 4 as a substitute of a 3 on the seventeenth gap in Sunday’s last spherical, De Vicenzo didn’t catch it and signed the scorecard. Per USGA guidelines, he needed to take the upper rating on his card (the 4), that means he missed out on the playoff. Goalby received the Masters by a stroke.
In keeping with the USGA’s present guidelines, if a rating returned was greater than the precise rating for the opening, the upper rating stands. If a rating was incorrectly marked as decrease than the precise rating, the participant is disqualified.
Extra just lately, this rule got here into impact on the 2024 Genesis Invitational in February. Jordan Spieth was disqualified on Friday afternoon following his second spherical. Spieth, who we later came upon was not feeling properly, shot a two-over 73 however signed for a 3 on the 4th gap when he really made a 4.
“In the present day, I signed for an incorrect scorecard and stepped out of the scoring space, after pondering I went by all procedures to ensure it was right,” Spieth wrote on X that evening. “Guidelines are guidelines, and I take full accountability.”
The subsequent day, his enjoying associate for the primary two rounds, Xander Schauffele, defended Spieth’s DQ and even steered a “softening” of the rule. Different execs additionally chimed in voicing their displeasure with the rule.
“He was actually sick and he had a tough final gap and I can see the way it all went down,” Schauffele mentioned. “I heard he needed to go to the restroom and got here again like a minute later and the cardboard was flawed. Possibly there must be some form of softening on the foundations, however for essentially the most half all of us type of know what goes on in there. It’s actually unlucky it occurred.”
The brand new modification will go into impact on the PGA Tour, PGA Tour Champions, Korn Ferry Tour, PGA Tour Americas and DP World Tour.
