Camilo Villegas turned 29 years old today. His gift? A big, fat disqualification.
Villegas was DQ'd from the PGA Tour's season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions today for something that happened yesterday, and something that was first brought to attention by a television viewer.
On the 15th hole at Kapalua during Thursday's first round, Villegas was playing an uphill chip to the green. He didn't hit the chip firmly enough, and the ball started rolling back toward him. As his ball came back to him, Villegas casually reached to the side with his wedge and flicked away a bit of turf (a piece of his divot). That's it.
The problem? Rule 23-1 of the Rules of Golf states:
His ball ultimately stopped a little bit aways from where that divot piece had been when Villegas flicked it aside. But at the time Villegas did it, his ball was in motion, and there was no way to know whether the ball might hit the loose impediment or not. So: Violation of Rule 23-1. That's a stroke penalty.
What's the second problem? Villegas did what he did casually, almost certainly without thinking about during the action or after. He didn't know - or didn't notice - of any rules violation in real time. His caddie didn't notice. His playing partner didn't notice. Nobody in real time noticed. Except for at least one person watching at home.
Villegas took a 7 on the hole, and signed for a 72. But he should have assessed himself the stroke penalty. Since he didn't, he signed an incorrect scorecard. And the penalty for signing an incorrect scorecard is disqualification.
PGA Tour officials viewed tape of the incident this morning, and so did Villegas. Once the situation was brought to the attention of rules officials, the conclusion was pretty much foregone.
Happy birthday, Camilo. Take the rest of the day off and try to enjoy yourself.
Camilo Villegas pictures
What's your opinion? Should TV viewers be able to report rules infractions - even (or especially) when nobody else has noticed them? Voice your opinion here.
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Villegas was DQ'd from the PGA Tour's season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions today for something that happened yesterday, and something that was first brought to attention by a television viewer.
On the 15th hole at Kapalua during Thursday's first round, Villegas was playing an uphill chip to the green. He didn't hit the chip firmly enough, and the ball started rolling back toward him. As his ball came back to him, Villegas casually reached to the side with his wedge and flicked away a bit of turf (a piece of his divot). That's it.
The problem? Rule 23-1 of the Rules of Golf states:
"When a ball is in motion, a loose impediment that might influence the movement of the ball must not be removed."
His ball ultimately stopped a little bit aways from where that divot piece had been when Villegas flicked it aside. But at the time Villegas did it, his ball was in motion, and there was no way to know whether the ball might hit the loose impediment or not. So: Violation of Rule 23-1. That's a stroke penalty.
What's the second problem? Villegas did what he did casually, almost certainly without thinking about during the action or after. He didn't know - or didn't notice - of any rules violation in real time. His caddie didn't notice. His playing partner didn't notice. Nobody in real time noticed. Except for at least one person watching at home.
Villegas took a 7 on the hole, and signed for a 72. But he should have assessed himself the stroke penalty. Since he didn't, he signed an incorrect scorecard. And the penalty for signing an incorrect scorecard is disqualification.
PGA Tour officials viewed tape of the incident this morning, and so did Villegas. Once the situation was brought to the attention of rules officials, the conclusion was pretty much foregone.
Happy birthday, Camilo. Take the rest of the day off and try to enjoy yourself.
Camilo Villegas pictures
What's your opinion? Should TV viewers be able to report rules infractions - even (or especially) when nobody else has noticed them? Voice your opinion here.
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Comments
Leave it to the PGA officials to decide. He already got kicked in the shins with a seven. The TV viewer kicked his dog too.
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I didn’t know the rule and it looks to me that he didn’t either or didn’t think that what he did interfered with his ball. Just something he did with thinking along with a lot of others. Hope he had a great birthday.
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That’s “Without Thinking”
The rules of golf will end up being the ruin of of golf. It’s a simple game, shouldn’t it be governed by a simple set of rules?
I’ve read in several other articles about this incident that claimed Villegas he should have incurred a 2 stroke penalty, here it claims a 1 stroke penalty…so we’re still not sure what the rule calls for. I think the intent and impact need to be accounted for, meaning did he intend to influence the outcome and did his action, in fact, impact the outcome. In this case, the answer to both questions is no. Sorry Camilo, you are just the latest victim of the crazy injustice of golf’s anal rules.