So Yeon-Ryu emerged victorious following a playoff at the LPGA’s first major of the year, the ANA Inspiration. The victory, her second career major, came after finishing tied with Lexi Thompson after 72 holes.
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A major controversy overshadowed the event following a ruling that involved Thompson, however. As she approached the 13th tee with a two-stroke lead in the 4th round, she was notified by a rules official about a potential violation.
Based on a TV viewer tip, the LPGA determined that Thompson had run afoul of the rules the day before. A 4-stroke penalty was assessed on a stunned Thompson, disrupting her run at the title.
The official LPGA response
The Tour released the following statement on Sunday afternoon:
On Sunday afternoon, the LPGA received an email from a television viewer, saying that Lexi Thompson did not properly replace her ball prior to putting out on the 17th hole during Saturday’s third round of the ANA Inspiration. The claim was quickly investigated by LPGA Rules officials.
After a full review, it was determined that Thompson breached Rule 20-7c (Playing From Wrong Place), and received a two-stroke penalty under Rule 16-1b. She incurred an additional two-stroke penalty under Rule 6-6d for returning an incorrect scorecard in round three. She was immediately notified of the breach by LPGA Rules Committee in between holes 12 and 13 of the final round.
Thompson ended up two strokes back following the ruling, but she recovered with a birdie on the 13th. She also birdied the 15th and 18th holes to force the playoff. In fact, she almost ended up winning anyway as her eagle putt on 18 came within feet of the hole.
Social Media reaction
The ruling stunned fellow golfers everywhere, and it did not take long for social media to reflect their displeasure:
To her full credit, Thompson was able to regain her composure to make one final charge to force the playoff. She also managed to put on a brave face as she faced the media and fans afterward.
Commentary
Golf is a sport that thrives on the honor system among its participants. This is true among all golfers, from beginners up to the world’s top-ranked players. Compared to other professional sports, instances of cheating or attempting to stretch the rules are rare in this sport.
There appears to be little doubt that Thompson committed a violation. That much is not in question. However, the LPGA even recognized that there was no intent or attempt to create a competitive advantage. Rules Official Sue Witters said in a statement on Sunday,
“I’m 100% sure it was not intentional. [Assessing the penalty] was a hard thing to do. To be honest, it made me sick.”
Officials should make any rulings affecting the run of play in short time. Doing so would ensure fairness for all competitors. Furthermore, there should be a limited window to issue such rulings.
Thompson would not have signed an incorrect scorecard if she had known about the violation, negating two penalty strokes. Additionally, she stood to gain no advantage by placing her ball wrongly on what was a tap-in putt.
Consequently, this ruling affected the final outcome of one of the Tour’s signature events. As such, the LPGA would do well to consider a rule change to avoid such controversy in the future.
On retroactive rulings
This ruling essentially means that the Tour is allowing retroactive rulings during the course of an ongoing event. To make matters worse, they have also set a precedent for spectator intervention as match officials. There is no room for such procedure in professional sports, and other leagues and circuits reflect that simple understanding.
Each event has on-site officials whose job is to enforce the rules governing the sport. Even so, there are times when the most obvious calls get missed. One only needs to look through the history of sports to find such incidents. These were cases that did not rely on discretionary calls but examples where officials failed to apply proper rulings.
Viewers and fans have learned to accept this as part of the nature of sports. THIS is why the LPGA’s allowing this type of feedback to affect an event has opened a Pandora’s Box.
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Make no mistake: So had a tremendous tournament, never shooting above 69 en route to the win. A fast riser, the 26-year old has now solidified her status as one of the elite female golfers.
The shame here is that Thompson’s effort, which technically included three rounds of 67, all went for naught. The LPGA should never have allowed themselves to end up in this position, but any fallout they now have to endure is entirely of their own doing.
As a result of allowing a rules question from an armchair analyst, the Tour has also threatened the competitive integrity it zealously seeks to protect. Players want to walk up to tee boxes knowing they are not subject to the whims of television viewers, therefore it is incumbent on the LPGA to address this as soon as possible.