14 Comments

1. 

   Harvey

   Nov 5, 2013 at 3:56 am

   They need to get away from armchair rulings.. Once the card is signed by both the marker player and is accepted by the official it should be set in stone, it’s not fair that tiger can get his revoked while other players suffer. As far as I can see they both consciously did something wrong, what’s the difference??

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2. 

   Dan

   Nov 4, 2013 at 5:37 pm

   If you watch the video, he clearly sneaks in and taps the mark down with his ball in a manner so no one would notice. It’s known to every pro you can’t touch a spike mark. Pretty sneaky move there.
   I think the rule should be changed, this is a silly rule, but he clearly cheated. Hopefully they let him off easy. It’s bad enough to be known as a cheater…

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3. 

   AJ

   Nov 4, 2013 at 6:44 am

   I have always wondered why pros aren’t allowed to tap down obvious spike marks for two reasons:

   1) Theoretically you could deliberately leave spike marks around a hole for the group playing behind you; and

   2) The playing (or local) rules on various tours allow so many conveniences (such as blazing it 80 yards off line and going to a DZ) that I would have thought obvious imperfections in the putting surface would be able to be ‘repaired’.

   If Dyson has been found to have broken other rules this season, then as somebody else has pointed out, it’s a bit late to call him on those now.

   This all seems well over the top for something as innocuous as tapping a spike mark – there must be something else behind it, which leads me to suggest he has a certain ‘reputation’ among his fellow professionals.

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   • 

     rB

     Nov 11, 2013 at 6:42 pm

     AJ,
     While I agree with your points, the real violations here were against
     the “Spirit of the Game” committed by Mr. Dyson and anyone
     purposely dragging their feet on any golf course !

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4. 

   Kevin

   Nov 4, 2013 at 4:17 am

   The Tour say they have collective evidence of past infringements ! surely if a player infringes rules they should be told straight away should they not.

   How’d they prove this? but shot tracker on the putt and see if the ball goes over the tamped down spike mark

   I don’t agree with it taking 21 days either

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5. 

   paul

   Nov 3, 2013 at 6:53 pm

   I would prefer to see the score card corrected and a 2 stroke penalty added for the incorrect score card.

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6. 

   gdog

   Nov 3, 2013 at 5:48 pm

   This is absurd….tapping down a spike mark…give it a rest…here’s an observation…most people who talk about the rules all day, cant play the game…

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   • 

     a golfer

     Nov 3, 2013 at 6:05 pm

     This makes me laugh at the people who were so ready to say that the rules tiger broke were only noticed because “hes the only one under the microscope”

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7. 

   Pablo

   Nov 3, 2013 at 3:59 pm

   The fact that this is a huge story and possibly an immensely costly violation for Dyson just tells me how idiotic the obsession of rules is in the world of golf. This wreaks of elitism in the sport and goes against every other major sports’ treatment of implementing rules – besides major violations such as drugs, most sports would not treat minor rules violations with such intense scrutiny. This will be the downfall of golf’s widespread popularity if something is not done to differentiate between minor violations and punishable cheating.

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   • 

     Xreb

     Nov 3, 2013 at 7:21 pm

     Agreed !

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   • 

     Jon

     Nov 3, 2013 at 10:22 pm

     I agree

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   • 

     Jack

     Nov 4, 2013 at 3:08 am

     I mean, this would be a total joke in any other sport. Can you imagine if Kobe fouled Lebron, and the NBA says, “Hey Kobe, remember that foul that you committed on Lebron? Yeah you didn’t admit to the refs that you did it, and didn’t take two points off your team’s total. Not only do you lose that game, you are banned from the NBA. Good luck with your future.” Seriously. I mean maybe he’s no Kobe, but he has won 6 times on the Euro PGA tour. That’s a darn good player. You’re costing a man’s livelihood because he tamped down a spike mark. Well guess what Mr. Dyson, you’re welcome to come play in the US PGA. Just try not to tamp down any spike marks.

     Why are there still any spikes allowed? I thought some shoes have gone to spikeless now (and I’ve tried them, works great).

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     • 

       c

       Nov 21, 2013 at 5:22 pm

       golf is not played in a 94 by 50 court where you can see whats happening. Its played over 150 acres where you can cheat up a storm if you wanted to.

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   • 

     Sean

     Nov 4, 2013 at 11:55 am

     Not that I’m necessarily supporting what Dyson is going through but something important to consider is the lack of official referees in golf which makes it difficult to compare to other sports. It’s known as the “gentleman’s game” partly because it is supposed to be self-policed. It is by its nature a very trusting environment until the trust is broken once, and then it can become very critical. If you can’t be trusted to admit a mistake (or to not cheat) and no one is around to monitor your play, should you be allowed to compete?

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