What Do You Think?

Emphasis mine in the Decision:

14-1a/4 Striking Ball with Half an Inch Backswing
Q.A player's ball lies close to an out of bounds fence, but there is room behind the ball to insert an iron club or a putter and leave a space of half an inch between the ball and the face of the club. If the player plays a stroke with such a limited backswing, is he in breach of Rule 14-1?

A.It is possible to strike a ball fairly with a half inch backswing. However, in most such cases the player would be pushing the ball, contrary to Rule 14-1. In the absence of strong evidence to the contrary, it should be ruled that the player has pushed the ball.

In order to strike the ball fairly, it must be swung at with the clubhead. If the ball is moved by any other method, it has been pushed, scraped or spooned.

If a ball is fairly struck at, there is only momentary contact between the clubhead and the ball or whatever intervenes between the clubhead and the ball.
 
With all the obstructions coming out of there, if Tiger says he felt like he didn’t hit it twice I can believe him. The super slo mo video looks like he did though. He did have a very short backswing so I guess it’s considered a stroke. If all things considered aren’t a penalty under the new ruling, which I don’t know to be honest, I guess it’s not a penalty.
 
I believe Tiger on this one. With the proms, sand and little bits of shell or rock in that situation I could see where a second hit might not have been detected. And I think that he took the club far enough back and had enough follow through for it to be considered a swing. I think that they made the right call.

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Sure looked to me like he dragged it, but then I"m no rules official.
 
A ‘lesser’ name in a bigger tournament would have been penalised.
 
I'm going to address the elephant in the room. It's Tiger Woods, it's his tournament, he's bringing up the rear of the field......heck no they're not going to penalize him.

The main reason I feel TV replays to view questionable instances should not be used is that only the leaders and big name players are viewed, lesser known players and players not near the lead are not viewed. If TV replays are to be viewed, then ALL players should be televised.
 
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