At first there were whispers among the stragglers of the press corps, working late on Friday night after the second round, of a major story brewing. As Brendan James reports from Augusta, by late evening it had turned into a storm of controversy with Tiger Woods in its eye.
Social media went into meltdown as rumour gave way to confirmation that the World No.1 might have an issue to answer with the tournament committee and he could be disqualified for taking an improper drop on the 15th hole.
After an eventful afternoon – which saw Queensland’s Jason Day grab the halfway lead and head all four Aussies in the top-15, as well as the controversy surrounding the slow-play penalty dished out to 14-year-old Tianlang Guan – this was a massive development.
Tiger Woods drops his ball after he hits it into the water on the 15th hole and gets the ball rolling on a major Masters controversy. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
Here is a comprehensive timeline of what happened during the round, the aftermath, the meetings and the final decision by the Masters tournament committee to impose a two-stroke penalty on Woods, rather than disqualifying him from the tournament.
THE TIGER ‘DROP-GATE’ TIMETABLE
Approximately 5.45pm (Augusta time): Tiger Woods arrives on the 15th tee after parring the 14th hole to remain tied for the lead at five under. He blocks his drive right into the pine trees and is forced to lay-up on the par-5. He punches his second shot down the fairway leaving a wedge approach of 87 yards.
Woods’ third shot with a wedge hits just above the base of the flag and cannons back off the green and down the slope into Rae’s Creek, which fronts the green. Instead of going to the drop area, Woods chose to play his fifth shot from where he had played the original ball. His caddie Joe LaCava remained standing next to the spot while Woods surveyed his options.
He drops his ball behind where his divot is from his third shot. Sticks in close and makes the putt for par.
5.50pm: A TV viewer telephones a rules official at the Masters to alert then that Woods had not properly proceeded under the rules when he took the penalty drop. This information is then passed onto the Tournament committee, which then reviews the video of the drop while Tiger is completing his final three holes.
6.30pm: As Woods makes his way up the 18th hole, the committee completes its review of the video and decides Tiger had proceeded appropriately and, therefore, would not be assessed a penalty.
“In this particular case, Tiger at that time was somewhere on the 18th hole, he might have been on the 18th green,” Chairman of the Masters Competition Committee Fred Ridley said. “Clearly we wanted to finish the initial review before he finished his round because we wanted to talk to him if we felt like we had a problem, before he signed his scorecard.
“Having determined that we did not feel there was a rules violation, we did not talk to Tiger, so he completed his round, signed his scorecard and the day was over.”
6.40pm: Woods conducts a post-round interview with ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi.
Woods tells Rinaldi: “So I went back to where I played it from, but I went two yards further back and I took, tried to take two yards off the shot of what I felt I hit.
“And that should land me short of the flag and not have it either hit the flag or skip over the back. I felt that that was going to be the right decision to take off four right there. And I did. It worked out perfectly.”
10.10pm: A reporter from CBS TV network leave a message for Chairman of the Masters Competition Committee Fred Ridley that Tiger had made a statement about what was going through his mind during penalty drop process and it created some doubt as to whether or not Tiger had violated a rule.
10.30pm: Ridley arrives back at Augusta National Golf Club and tournament headquarters with fellow committee members Will Jones and Buzzy Johnson to review the ESPN interview.
“Tiger had indicated that he had taken a couple of extra yards … based on that, it raised some concerns in our minds,” Ridley said.
11pm: Ridley contacts Tiger’s representatives to set up an 8 o’clock meeting with Woods on Saturday morning.
11.15pm: Australian journalists working in Augusta press centre on late deadline stories about Jason Day leading the Masters get wind of a major story brewing.
12.40am: Twitter feeds about a rumoured rules infraction by Tiger go into meltdown and continue solidly for he next four or five hours. Golf Australia magazine and Herald Sun writers get confirmation from a senior rules official that Tiger “has an issue”, which is revealed on social media.
7.50am: Woods arrives at Augusta National Golf Club for a meeting with Ridley and the competition committee.
“Tiger was very forthright in his comments and his answers to questions we had,” Ridley said. “He indicated that, and confirmed, that he was trying to create a situation where he effectively would have a shot that was not going to go quite as far as his first shot did.
“And he said he was going to dial it down a couple of yards and that he had taken an additional yard or so in order to create the distance that he wanted in that shot.
“Based on that and based on his very forthright and honest answers to the questions, I told Tiger that in light of that information we felt that he had, in fact, violated Rule 26 under the Rules of Golf and that he was going to have to be penalised. I also told him because we had initially made the determination after reviewing the video from his round that he had not violated the rule, that under Rule 33-7 that there was ample reason not to impose the penalty of disqualification but to waive that penalty and impose a two-shot penalty.”
Post 8.30am: Woods leaves Augusta National.
10am: Masters committee release a statement stating Woods has not been disqualified but has received a two-stroke penalty.
10.15am to 11am: Various commentators including Sir Nick Faldo and Brandel Chamblee appear on The Golf Channel and appeal to Woods to disqualifying himself from the tournament for “the good of the game”.
12pm: Woods takes to Twitter to give his side of the story.
“At hole #15, I took a drop that I thought was correct and in accordance with the rules. I was unaware at that time I had violated any rules.
“I didn’t know I had taken an incorrect drop prior to signing my scorecard. Subsequently, I met with the Masters Committee Saturday morning…and was advised they had reviewed the incident prior to the completion of my round. Their initial determination… was that there was no violation, but they had additional concerns based on my post-round interview. After discussing the situation with them this morning, I was assessed a two-shot penalty. I understand and accept the penalty and respect the Committees’ decision.”
Masters Chairman of Competitions Fred Ridley explains the reasoning behind Woods’ two-stroke penalty and not disqualification. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
12.45pm: Ridley conducts a press conference in which he outlines the reason behind the penalty and adds “ … disqualification this morning was not even on the table.”
Ridley said the Masters, as a courtesy, had informed the R&A, USGA, PGA Tour and European Tour about their decision to utilise 33-7 and not disqualify Woods. Ridley said the organizations were 100 percent supportive of the decision.
The Masters leaderboard is changed early morning to show an eight on the 15th hole for Woods instead of a six. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
1.45pm: Tiger takes his spot in the Masters field and opens with a birdie.
6.15pm: Woods makes par on the 18th hole to finish the third round at three under and in the hunt for a fifth Green Jacket.
6.30pm: Tiger faces the media out the front of the Augusta clubhouse.
When asked if he thought he could go back from the original position to drop his ball, Woods replies: “I wasn’t even really thinking. I was still a ticked at what had happened, and I was just trying to figure, okay, I need to take some yardage off this shot and that’s all I was thinking about.”
When asked whether he considered withdrawing from the tournament he said: “Under the Rules of Golf I can play … If it was done a year or two ago, I wouldn’t have the opportunity to play. But the rules have changed and under the Rules of Golf I was able to play.
HOW TIGER BROKE RULE 26-1.
Rule 26-1 applies to yellow-staked hazard areas and gives a player three options.
1. He may play the ball from the designated drop zone;
2. He may drop the ball, keeping the point where it last crossed the hazard between the hole and the drop spot, with no limit as to how far back he may go;
3. He may return to the original spot and take a drop, “as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played.”
Woods chose not to use the drop zone because the grain of the grass would make for a difficult shot. Option 2 wasn’t considered because the angle would have out him in he first vut alongside the fairway.
Woods returned to the original spot but did not drop the ball as near as possible, instead he dropped the ball two yards behind the original spot for a better yardage into the flag.
HOW TIGER AVOIDED DISQUALIFICATION
Woods was not disqualified for violation of Rule 26-1, as the Masters committee chose to implement Rule 33-7, which states: “A penalty of disqualification may in exceptional individual cases be waived, modified or imposed if the Masters Competition Committee feels such action warranted. Any penalty less than disqualification must not be waived or modified. If the committee considers that a player is guilty of a serious breach of etiquette, it may impose a penalty of disqualification.”
This rule was included in the Rules of Golf amendments in 2011 after an incident involving Padraig Harrington at a European Tour event.
The Irishman signed for the wrong score after a TV viewer called in to report seeing his ball move slightly before he addressed a putt. Harrington, oblivious to the movement, was disqualified.
THE REACTION
“He should really sit down and think about this, and the mark this will leave on his career, his legacy, everything.”
– Sir Nick Faldo on why Woods should have withdrawn.
“The integrity of this sport is bigger than the desire to see Tiger Woods play golf today. I want to see Tiger Woods play golf; I have never seen anybody play golf like him. I want to see him make a run at Jack Nicklaus’ majors record. I want to see that. But I don’t want to see it this week; I don’t want to see it under these circumstances. The right thing to do here, for Tiger and for the game, is for Tiger to disqualify himself.”
– Former Tour player now commentator Brandel Chamblee, on whether Woods should withdraw.
“To me, this doesn’t take any time or consideration. If he doesn’t disqualify himself, this will cast a dark shadow over the entire day of golf, over this entire event, but more importantly over his entire career, for the rest of his life.”
– Chamblee again.
“It is all about the player and the integrity of the game. Woods violated the rules as he played. #1 carries a greater burden. WD for the game.”
– Greg Norman.
“I think if Tiger withdraws, he looks better than if he wins this tournament. He looks like Greg Norman in 1996 when he lost to Faldo and gained more fans than if he had gone on to win.”
– Former PGA Tour player Brad Faxon.
“Tiger missed a chance to enhance his legend. It would’ve been bigger for him to withdraw with honour than to continue playing under a cloud.”
– Veteran golf writer Dan Jenkins.
“Even if they said, ‘You can play,’ I would go slam my trunk. Ultimately, I would slam my own trunk.”
– Former Tour player John Cook.
“I don’t agree with that (Tiger should withdraw). If that’s the case, you have to have that argument on every single rules infraction. Every time a player grounds their club in a hazard, they’ve gained an advantage. Every time someone moves their ball one millimetre in front of their ball marker, they’ve gained an advantage over the field.”
– Frank Nobilo.
