Padraig Harrington disqualified for Abu Dhabi error

 

Ireland's Padraig Harrington has been disqualified from the Abu Dhabi Championship after signing for a wrong score in his first-round 65.

Harrington's hand brushed the back of his ball on hole seven as he replaced it in front of his marker.

The ball rocked forward and television slow-motion replays showed that it did not return to its original position.

"I looked down and was pretty sure it had just oscillated and had not moved, so I continued on," said Harrington.

"In slow motion it's pretty clear the ball has moved three dimples forward and it's come back maybe a dimple and a half.

"At the end of the day that's good enough, but I wouldn't have done anything differently - there was nothing I could do about it at that moment in time.

Iain Carter's blog   There are cases where apparent breaches have not resulted in bans     

"If I'd called a referee over it would have been pointless because if he'd asked me where my ball was I'd have said it was there. As far as I was concerned it didn't move."

A television viewer phoned in to bring the incident to the attention of the European Tour after the Dubliner had signed his scorecard, resulting in the disqualification.

It is the second time three-time Major winner Harrington has suffered the punishment in his career - 11 years ago he was penalised for not signing his first-day scorecard.

Tour senior referee Andy McFee, who also disqualified Harrington first time around, said: "I got an email from the Tour feedback site just before six o'clock [on Thursday].

"I managed to get a look and knew immediately we had an issue. I got all members of the rules committee to look at the tape.

"Because everything was closing down I decided to sleep on it and speak to Padraig first thing this morning [Friday].

"It's a minute movement, but it's a movement and he never replaced it, so he should have included a two-stroke penalty.

"The fact that he is unaware he moved the ball unfortunately does not help him. Because he signed for a score lower than actually taken the penalty is disqualification."

Is it right that a television viewer can ring the European Tour and inform them that there has been an infringement of the rules?

If I was watching football and I noticed that a goal was allowed even though it was offside would the F.A. take any notice if I rung them and told them?  I don't think so.

The same thing happened a few weeks ago I think on the PGA Tour.  I can see this happening a lot more.

Whether Padraig broke the rules or not is one thing but I don't think it is right that any old person can influence the disqualification of a player by sticking their nose in.

I agree entirely Richard, it should be a closed matter for officials and the players involved. These people should have no right whatsoever.

Ditto  Patrick's Comment.

Paddy was honest, he thought the ball returned to the original place. You say the last thing we need is referees monitoring every movement and all shots but isn't it even worse to rely on the viewers?

I'm sorry, but no. His hand accidentally brushed the back of the ball...the ball didnt move more than a couple of mm, no more thna it would if you picked it up and replaced it anyways.

I think it is ridiculous that the public can ring up and get a player disqualified.  That is twice it has happened in not too many tournaments. If this continues, then 2011 could be a dark year.  It just proves there are some sad, lonely people in the world who will take great joy in doing this sort of thing.  Paddy had got off to a flying start after all the changes he made over the winter, and then this happens...will do wonders for his confidence no doubt

It is difficult, because he genuinely thought that the ball had returned to its original position, something that none of his playing partners questioned.

He therefore did not feel that a ruling was needed and even if he had called for a referee decision the outcome would not have been any diffrent because Padraig would have confirmed that the ball did ineed return to its original decision.

The decision by the committee to check this via tv was in  itself overiding its own rules whereby the round, once completed and signed for is history.

They have now set a dangerous precedence and we will now be subject to many of these kinds of decisions.

Paddy was honest, he thought the ball returned to the original place. You say the last thing we need is referees monitoring every movement and all shots but isn't it even worse to rely on the viewers?

And Martin Kaymer echoes those thoughts!

Agree about the fact that an armchair viewer shouldn't have any say on the game, but look at the video,  I don't believe Padraig was unaware he moved the ball. The ball clearly is nudged forwards,  accidentally with the back of his hand. The DQ well after he completed the round though is a poor decision.

I feel I need to correct a few comments on here.

1. Paddy didn't feel he needed to do anything at the time because even though he did cause the ball to move, he thought it returned to the original spot. He was actually out by 2mm.

2. He could have called an Official, but as he has said, he would have told him that he thought the ball was back in its original spot. If the Official then told him to play on, Paddy would not be liable to any penalty. He could also have 'Marked' the ball.

3. On Tour, unless it is Match-Play, Rules Officials are not with every match and need calling by the Player, there is usually one near by though.

4. TV call ins are encouraged in the US, in fact  the PGA Tour have a special number.

5. I believe the guy who e-mailed the European Tour about Paddy was actually questioning Rule18-2 and the fact he had caused the ball to move. It was Andy McFee, looking at the video that noticed that the ball moved (ended in another position) and Paddy didn't then proceed under The Rules.

6. A Competition is only 'Closed' after its completion and the Result announced. A single round in a 72hole Tournament doesn't fulfill that.

The question of a Tour Player being DQ'd for not signing for a correct score after being seen to breach a Rule on TV is causing a lot of conversation. In some cases, like Paddy's why not just add the penalty later, but before the Player starts his next round.

They also looked at G-Mac's on the 18th on Thursday but he was OK.

TheLyth

It does seem rather harsh to be DQ'd because of something that you were not aware of at the time.

Maybe there should be a cut-off point after each round where things like this cannot affect the game?

By gaining no advantage from this incident the punishment seems way out of proportion to the crime.

The guys in the studio were commenting on a review of the rules for tournaments, but how quick this would happen I don't know.

Russ

There have been comments that Padraig knew he had touched the ball. I can't accept that. I'm sure that all tour pros know that the camera is on them and they have too much professional credibility to lose. 

 On a related point I do think that there are too many rules in golf which a) puts people off from joining the game, b) can cause resentment whilst playing the game ie it can make a game a bit of a drag when you have a rulesman playing with you on a Sat afternoon knock and c) there are some rules that contradict others or are not congruous to others and I feel some of them are  'rules for rules sake' and have caused many a golfer to fall out with one another. As for the marking rule... so what, what's a couple of mm (or even a couple of cm's for that matter).

Patrick,

If you watch the interview he gave he admits he touched the ball but thought it had rolled back into it's original compression mark.

According to latest reports, the R&A and USGA are going to discuss the matter, and whether to allow any more "viewer phone in" scenarios.  http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=6048752&campaign=rss&source=twitter&ex_cid=Twitter_espn_6048752

Poults tweeted it earlier.

Again, another over the top punishment, i think its about time the rules were looked at again and some need to be adjusted, there's nothing wrong with punishing a player if he deliberately cheats, but if its a clear accident i find it unfair and extremely frustrating none more so than the poulter one in Dubai, which totaly spoiled  what was a fantastic final day of golf....!!!! 

Sorry John, I meant to say 'moved'.

.........................YUK........ ................YUK..YUK..YUK....!!!!