The latest LPGA debacle came at the ANA Inspiration Tournament where tournament leader Lexi Thompson was assessed a four stroke penalty–two strokes for marking her ball incorrectly and another two strokes for not recognizing the penalty and signing an incorrect scorecard.  Well, rules are rules.  Whether the rules are silly and perhaps need to be revised is another matter.  The problem here is once again a TV watcher gnome who decides to be the referee and believes that Lexi is guilty of an infraction and “calls it in” to LPGA officials.  The problem here is that with every contestant group, there is a rules official, the job of that official is to referee the match and assess that the contestants are following the rules of golf.  That official would have been on the green watching Lexi mark her ball and would have been responsible for enforcing a penalty if, in fact, Lexi mis-marked the ball.  A sport that allows a TV viewer potentially observe a rules violation is the dumbest thing I have ever heard of—does the referee of the golf match have the capability of a United Airlines gate agent?  We have umpires in baseball, referees in football, officials in hockey and so on.  The last time I looked, no one cares if I call a batter safe from my couch and call Major League Baseball.  Instead of dealing with the right issue of taking calls from TV viewers and actually considering those views, the LPGA commissioner pouted that the penalty was excessive and “boo hoo”, the rules are unfair.  How ridiculous is that?  Rules are rules so play by them and live by them and if you want to change them, change them.  Having TV hacks call in rule violations and actually consider them-that is ludicrous and almost makes United Airlines look intelligent.  Stop the nonsense and strengthen the on course capability  of the rules officials that are supposed to enforce the Rules of Golf.  The Commissioner then called for the rules to be changed because poor Lexi was penalized too harshly and the eventual tournament winner’s victory was somehow tainted by this event.  These people need to do the right thing and disconnect their telephones from the public for good–that’s the rule change that is needed–if there is such a rule.

One more adjustment required or consult United Airlines