Golf fans on Twitter force one-shot penalty on LPGA player

Twitter brings about a one-shot penalty to LPGA player for dropping the ball incorrectly.
South Korea’s Sun Young Yoo was forced to take a penalty because of an unplayable lie at last week’s LPGA Tour event in Florida. But it was her ball drop that caused a few golf viewers to voice their concern, via Twitter.

Yoo quite clearly doesn’t drop the ball from shoulder height, Rule 20-2:

“A ball to be dropped under the Rules must be dropped by the player himself. He must stand erect, hold the ball at shoulder height and arm’s length and drop it. If a ball is dropped by any other person or in any other manner and the error is not corrected as provided in Rule 20-6, the player incurs a penalty of one stroke.”
It wasn’t picked up by anyone on course at the time, but numerous fans tweeted about the indiscretion and officials were then notified who penalised Yoo before she signed her card. Yoo finished the event in a tie for 24th spot, 12 shots behind winner Na Yeon Choi, but it has again sparked debate about how the golf rules are regulated during a tournament.
There have now been numerous occasions where professional golfers have been penalised or worse, disqualified because a rules infringement that was only noticed by golf fans watching at home on TV. Often only the leading players of a golf tournament are televised so the playing field is clearly not a level one.
I’ve never really thought about it before, but the rule is a little biased towards shorter golfers too, don’t you think? 😉

H/T Geoff Shackleford

2 thoughts on “Golf fans on Twitter force one-shot penalty on LPGA player

  • Pedantic! Probably three or four inches lower than shoulder height, dropped to a slope. Ridiculous.

    Reply
  • Can’t play anywhere near well enough to beat a lady on tour so some pathetic people have to validate themselves by beating them with a pedantic use of the rules.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *