Interesting Updates

It appears the groove issue is starting to (thankfully) die, and Tiger's "press conference" Friday will make it last decade's news, but Golf World had an interesting quote from Padraig Harrington. After he was told the new groove rule was announced way back in August 2008, he quipped, "It wasn't announced to me." Maybe Padraig should spend some of his quiet time as he flies across the Atlantic re-reading the Rules of Golf (better yet, he can download the new Rules of Golf iPhone app) and start with Rule 6-1, "The Player and his caddie are responsible for knowing the Rules."

On the heels of the Mickelson-McCarron-Groove Rule controversy and reconciliation comes another set of interesting rules tidbits from last week's AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

According to Teemaster.com's weekly electronic newsletter TeeMail, it seems Bill Murray (think Caddyshack) was penalized two-strokes under Rule 6-3a for being late to the tee. Under that rule, a player is required to be on the tee and ready to play at his scheduled starting time. Apparently Murray was being interviewed by CBS analysts Gary McCord and David Feherty while the professionals in his group, Minnesota's own Tim Herron (his partner) and Rocco Mediate, played away thus making him late and subject to a two-stroke penalty. Fortunately (or unfortunately), it didn't matter as the Herron/Murray team missed the cut.

This is particularly interesting considering the article that appeared this week in Charlie Walters' column in the St. Paul Pioneer Press. The article featured Hollis Cavner's (Tournament Director for the Champions Tour 3M Championship) experiences while playing with Phil Mickelson during the final round of the same Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Cavner, who partnered with K.J. Choi, is quoted as saying "There was a lot of b.s. going back and forth; we chatted and joked the whole time," he said. "Phil would help you with shots, show you things, 'You need to do this.' He'd look at your clubs and go, 'This is too upright for you.' He was reading putts. You couldn't ask for a nicer guy. It was just a fabulous day."

Hmm, if Cavner was saying that Mickelson (while in contention for the professional title) was helping him, this is in direct violation of Rule 8-1, which states "During a stipulated round, a player must not: (a) give advice to anyone in the competition playing on the course other than his partner, or (b) ask for advice from anyone other than his partner or either of their caddies." The penalty for a breach of this rule is two strokes in stroke play.

Until next time-
Doug