Where was Andy McPhee when Lexi Thompson needed him?
Okay, another of golf’s silly rules got a working-over thanks to the Lexi Thompson fiasco at the ANA Inspiration.
Perhaps Irish Open winner Jon Rahm owes Thompson a thank-you note.
The USGA along with the R&A came up with a decision that amended the marking rule. Rahm was the beneficiary on Sunday at the Irish Open.
He appeared to mis-mark his ball on the sixth green but was not assessed a penalty as McPhee, Chief Rules Referee for the European Tour, said that there was “no intent to break a rule.”
Brandel Chamblee of the Golf Channel would later go ballistic:
“The integrity of the competition was certainly at risk, and the dynamic of the competition completely changed from what it should have been to one person’s interpretation, and in my opinion, a wrong interpretation of it. Andy McPhee certainly has a great reputation administering the rules in a fair manner, but I believe he got this one wrong. It wasn’t millimeters. It was inches, probably two-to-three inches this ball was misplaced.”
He wasn’t finished, Chamblee went on:
“So, (Rahm) broke the rule. He should have been penalized, which means he wouldn’t have been playing with a five-shot lead. He would have been playing with a three-shot lead. And all of a sudden, what looks to be something easy and a walk in the park becomes very stressful. The dynamic certainly changed there and I don’t believe it changed for the right reason.”
Chamblee wasn’t alone on this.
Another Golf Channel guy, former tour player Bill Kratzert backed up Chamblee:
“Well, I certainly agree. When you really look at what happened, I think you have to look at the rule, ‘Ball Played from the Wrong [Place] (20-7C),’ and that would incur a two-shot penalty. …
“When are we going to understand that intent and vague don’t mean the same thing? There’s too many vagaries with that word intent in the Rules of Golf. And what was significant for me was when I heard Andy McPhee say we’re talking millimeters, but he said if (Rahm) moved it from 9 to 12 (o’clock), there would be a penalty incurred. Well, as I’m looking at that video, I did see 9 to 12.”
But the only voice that counted was McPhee’s.
Rahm was off the hook and nothing but smiles as he walked to the seventh tee on Sunday.
