golf4life
Grip n rip
Don't know if this has been posted already but Camilo DID get DQ'd today. My take on this is that he indeed broke a rule, but accidentally in my opinion. Similar to Dustin Johnson's famous bunker on 18 at Whistling Straits, after which he remarked, "what bunker?" and later said, "i had no idea my ball was in a bunker, it never appeared that way to me." the difference is though that Johnson's penalty was recognized by a PGA official before the tournament was over. i think it's a little immature or over-the-top for somebody to call a penalty in when clearly nobody on the course or in the booth realized it. as golfers we are responsible for many rules that we must call on ourself (ie. Brian Davis with the loose impediment at the Verizon Heritage), but if you don't realize that you have broken a rule then how are you going to call it on yourself. the way i see it, instead of Camilo lashing out in frustration and hitting his bag with the wedge or smacking out out a chunk of ground, he angrily flipped the few pieces of turf from the divot he took.
On a side note, why didn't anybody call out Graeme McDowell when his ball clearly moved a little in the rough due to him moving around near the ball. Even Faldo said something like, "watch out Graeme!" yet even though people on the property saw this he was not penalized and nobody called in to get him DQ'd. it's just like any sport that has replay capability, and you don't hear about people calling in when there's a clearcut mistake made by refs or umpires.
As a college player and long time tournament golfer, I would be quite upset if I turned in a score that I, as well as the rules officials, coaches, and my competitors agreed was correct. and somebody like a spectator or outside force called me out the next day. Not quite the same context but the same concept. btw, this is all my opinion
A couple things:
For the Villegas situation, to me, it looked like he was clearly trying to make sure the divot pieces were well out of the way of the ball that was coming back down to his position. It didn't look like a frustrated hack at the turf, but a clear attempt to make sure that the landing area for the ball was clear. And the ball ultimately came to rest about a foot from where he hit it last so it was indeed potentially in play. A caller wouldn't have to call in and identify a rule violation had Villegas known the rule in question.... it was pretty clear to me he did not know the rule, I don't believe he was trying to cheat, just ignorant.
For the Graeme McDowell situation, I saw that too, but his ball appeared to oscillate and return to the same position unmoved. I believe that is allowed under the rules of golf.