It is a mistake many golfers make. Moving debris away from a ball to get a better shot, but etiquette and rules state if there’s any ball movement during this time you must call it and receive a penalty. Last Friday it happened to
Tiger Woods at the BMW Championship. While Woods believed the ball only oscillated, Tour officials thought otherwise. Leaving the Nike player to stew over a penalty he didn’t find out about until after the final round.
A PGA Tour Entertainment camera crew caught the action and later reported it to the powers that be. Resulting in a two-stroke penalty, which Woods is still not happy about. Speaking to reporters earlier this week at a press conference before the start of the Tour Championship in Atlanta, the 37-year-old discussed his views regarding parameters on television spectators calling in violations.
“There needs to be a time limit, and I think there needs to be a discussion obviously where is that time limit? Where is that line of demarcation? You've got to start with disqualification and then work our way back from there.”
Woods went on to discuss the high scrutiny he and other top players on Tour are under. Citing he’s watched from the moment he steps onto the range, something not every player he’s up against faces. So what does Woods think will happen in the future to make a more level playing field?
“I'm sure there's going to be a lot of discussion over it. What's going to happen over the course of time? Is every player going to be mandated to have a camera follow them around everywhere they go - all 156 players [in a regular tour event] for every shot? Or is there a certain time limit when we're going to have to do it? Is it going to change in the digital age? These are all questions and answers that need to be resolved in the near future.”
