Lexi Thompson's delayed penalty

All incorrect scorecards are signed accidentally, in a sense. No one signs an incorrect one on purpose. But dem's da rules.

I totally agree that scorecards are antiquated at golf's highest levels and only cause problems, but getting rid of them would be a form of bifurcation and none of the pro tours are ready to go down that road yet.

 

There's no number on it in the rules, you're supposed to "replace it at the exact spot from where it was lifted" (paraphrasing). Lexi clearly didn't do that. Not saying she cheated. But she broke the rule.

 

She didn't freakin' cheat. Come on now.

Look, I get the rules and why they're there. But you absolutely cannot completely hijack any tournament with six holes to go and 24 hours after the fact. It completely redoes how everyone would have played the round had the scores were different going into it.

I would say once the scorecards are signed, that's it, the round is official, we're done. I'll even go as far and allow changes up until the first ball is struck in the next round. But this was a complete fiasco.

Yes, it's on the players, but also on playing partners and rules officials who are with all of these groups.

 

Of course it can't be "exact." But Lexi's video was very clear, even though it's a distance smaller than the ball itself. Also, the rules official isn't going to be on the green with them or even looking at all. Marking a ball is one of those dumb little things in golf but it still has to be done a certain way, especially if you're playing for big bucks.

Non-golfers are saying today that it's a silly rule, but they're the kind of rules you have to have. (And again, just talking about the marking stuff. I think the whole second-day-penalty part is crap.)

 

That's the boat I'm in. She definitely broke the rule. But the problem is you can't go back the way they did it. Either declare it official once the scorecards or signed or before the first ball is hit in the next round. How this was done was beyond ridiculous.