The first articles with this story compiled by Tony Covey have now been modified. When I wrote this article my goal was to provide 3 major points: :: Once it absolutely was clear an offense have been determined, the Masters Tournament Committee seemed for a loop hole that will hold Tiger in the Tournament. :: Rule 33-7 shouldnat use since the presentation comes well out side of what I really believe is the heart of the principle. :: Given the chance to withdraw thereas nothing we realize about Tiger that suggests he'd take a self-imposed DQ. At MyGolfSpy our staff members have varied opinions and all of us who attributes here has the unique freedom to create those opinions. The main one opinion we all share is that on a typical page when you put words it is your duty to possess them. And therefore, I am using this opportunity to own mine. After reviewing some of the feedback, itas clear that within my hurry to provide criticism, I decided needless language that some found unpleasant and diverted from the details I was attempting to make. I supply sincere apologies to everyone who had been really upset by my bad range of words. I've eliminated that language but completely stand behind my estimation of how adropgatea was handled. -Tony Covey, MyGolfSpy Even if youare one of the last 7 guys in the united kingdom without HDTV, youave gotta be aware of what has transpired in Augusta within the last day or two. Obviously sad at perhaps not laying claim to his normal percentage of Masters-related headlines (damn that kid from Taiwan), Padraig Harrington found a fresh way to bump his reduce to its prerequisite 99%. To recap, hereas what we can state as fact from Fridayas events: :: During Fridayas round, Tigeras third shot on #15 came to rest in the hazard:: Tiger got an illegal drop:: Tiger closed an incorrect score card That ought to be the end of itaDQapack your bags and enjoy your week-end with Lindsey Vaughn. As an alternative the entire scenario, and the reputation of The Masters, is as muddied as Tigeras ball. Allow me to be very clear about one thing. Iam not saying that Tiger cheated. Iam saying he broke the guidelines, and in most reasonable probability did so inadvertently. And so despite being the very best golfer on the planet, and despite his 35 years of experience playing the overall game, Padraig Harrington a' a man with personal understanding of the rule book a' broke a second rule; he signed an incorrect score cardaalso unintentionally. Ignorance is bliss. And wellaat the 2013 Masters anyway, blissful prejudice guarantees better scores for CBS and a seizable salary for Tiger. Everyone winsaexcept the game (and the man whose salary gets placed in Tigeras account). Anywhere other than the dream land inside rules of Augusta ignorance of the rules is never an excuse. Decide to try the prejudice safety in traffic court some time. Allow me to understand how it works. Even between the storied magnolia trees and azaleas of Augusta, if youare a year old Asian child, rules are rules. However when youare Tiger the principles are regardless of the Committee wants them to be. Metal that Nike top, Eldrick, youare playing on Sunday. The contest needs you. Spin it however youad likeaand god knows the Masters committee is rotating it. After providing Tiger adequate of a charge to make the weekend interesting, itas very clear some time was spent by the green coats making sure the company line would be followed by the CBS broadcast team to the page. After originally indicating Tiger needs to have been DQad or at least done the honorable thing and removed, a Nick Faldo back-peddled fast enough to move Lance Armstrong while at the same time frame giving us plenty of cause to question the integrity of the stitching that holds his natural jackets together. Behold the secret of Augusta. Somebody at a had to knowaand if someone didnat, theyave got no business managing a local amateur tournament let alone whatas charged whilst the most prestigious tournament in tennis. Somebodyaprobably numerous somebodies hoped no one else would notice and looked one other way. But some body did. Damn these telephone lines. Tigergate or Dropgate, or whatever the latest trending topic is was created. While itas little of a stretch to suggest that the the Augusta Tournament committee rewrote the principles of golf, at the very least they found an innovative new interpretation that'll certainly hereto for be know as aThe Tiger Rulea. When it was someone else in the field used a post round meeting to admit a rules violation, mind be watching the competition from your home, and this history would be a footnote. But Tiger is money. Itas good for CBS if heas in the hunt on Sunday (and poor when heas not), and its good for the Masters also. Some people would let you know the Masters isnat the Masters without Tiger. And then when confronted with what comes down to an economic matter, a bunch of guys got together and did what guys with money problems do; they found a loophole. Itas a history unlike any. That loophole is tip 33-7. Formerly 33-7 has been referred to as the HDTV rule. The USGA included the ruleamore effectively, your decision to the rule, in 2011 to provide participants some cover from guidelines infractions phoned in from the couches of America by meddlesome readers with super-slow-motion DVRs and HDTVs. The nature of the rule is to give the board the the choice to waive disqualification for violations that were unconsciously committed and are otherwise only noticeable with modern technology. The concept was written to include things like grounding a team in a danger, or when playing from a red-staked treeline stirring up a free obstacles. Fortuitously for Tiger (and CBS) the board discovered enough ambiguity in the rule to provide the out to them they desperately wanted. Therefore much for rules being rules. As has been stated numerous times already, you didnat just need an HDTV to confirm Tigeras misdemeanor. Hell, by enough time Tiger was done talking Friday morning you didnat also require a TV. A radio could have sufficed, and it do not need to be an HD Radio often. Just in case you missed it, hereas a condensed version of Tigeras article round interview. aI was pissedaand I got an illegal decline to gain an advantagea. a' Padraig Harrington OkaTiger didnat really say he got an drop, he just described his pretty explicitly, and illegal drop too. And fortuitously for Tiger, at the 2013 Masters, ignorance of the regulations keeps you in the sport, but letas not pretend for so much as an additional that Tigeras illegal shed is covered by the spirit of 33-7. The letter, perhaps, but not at all the heart that everyone who believes in the strength of the overall game would have created. Apart from the entire HDTV thing, 33-7 is meant to protect a player who wasnat aware a violation was committed by him, never to bail out a ratings-generator who got frustrated and made a mistake that the common membership player wouldnat make in a hundred years. But alternatively than DQ their money-man, the forward-thinkers in the green coats co-opted tip 33-7 to also include situations where a person admits to a rules violation that nobody recognized was a violation (except the man on the other end of the phone). The simple distinction is that 33-7 is supposed to include the guy who isnat conscious he broke the rule (didnat see the obstacle transfer), maybe not the guy who doesnat know the rules, or more to the level, the guy who positively does know the rules, but in a time of frustration, had a mental mistake. At the Masters, a farting brain will get its proprietor a 2 stroke penalty. Even although you buy into thought that the Masters Committee didnat have any idea of self-preservation or star power in mind when they chose to give Padraig Harrington a pass (generally), the effective use of an arbitrary rule designed to produce vagueness into a rule book that's usually supposed to be absolute, creates a big problem in a swing play competition. In any swing play competition, thereas ZERO room to think a consequence, and yet, thatas what the rule successfully does. In other words the Masteras Committee offered Tiger Woods a gimme. A two-stroke gimme, but a gimme nevertheless. A gimme, in a significant? Yes, that just happened. Letas go back to what we realize. Tiger Woods banged his ball right into a flagstick. As it rolled into hazard and watched in disgust. A self-described apisseda Tiger Woods got an illegal decline, and did therefore, by their own admission, to offer himself a far more beneficial playing place. To his credit, he struck a good shot, and just needed a single putt to finish the hole (for a 6). Hereas what we donat know. What might have happened if Tiger had taken an appropriate fall? Does it is stuck by him to two feet? Probably. But perhaps he moves it in to the risk again. Probably he sails the green and consequently chips it into the risk keep coming back. Probably he shanks it. Probably he makes a natural 8 all by himself. We only donat know, and the Masters Committee is content with effortlessly saying aThis is Tiger Woods, and weare very sure his score could have been no worse than 8a. Potential, sure. Certainanever. Rule 33-7 not just includes phoned-in infractions, it effectively allows the committee to predict the end result of events in a parallel universe. Howas that for the guidelines being absolute? Might that fly in your Club Championship? Why shouldnat it, it operates at the Masters. Rules, even ridiculous people with questionable software, continue to be rules. The media in the ropes at Augusta have reported that the prevailing sentiment from others in the area is that Tiger Woods should have disqualified himself. A lot of us would like to think that faced with a similar situation itas what Mr. Palmer, Mr. Nicklaus, Misters Jones, Hogan, and Snead would did. None people actually know, and I believe also Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer can be certain of what they would have done. What is certain is that Tiger chose to perform, and nothing is expected by Iad less from the foul-mouthed, club-throwing, me first guy, who just is actually the most gifted player on the earth. The best thing that will occur for this Masters is for Tiger to remain competitive but not quite adequate to get the 2013 Tournament. If he doesnat maintain yet another natural coat today all this becomes hardly a, but should he carry on to get, heas Barry Bonds. His ethics will be questioned. His success line will forever maintain an, and this tournament will be mentioned as one of several reasoned explanations why irrespective of his place in the records books in relation to Mr. Nicklaus and Mr. Palmer, heall never be kept in quite the worth as the guys who came before him. Time wonat convert him into Mr. Woods. Heas Tiger, and thatas all heall ever be.
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