Tiger Woods is getting fingers pointed at him again. This time it wasn’t for infidelity — it’s for apparent inequality.
Long after Tiger completed his second round Friday and signed his scorecard reading a 1-under 71, the Masters rule committee assessed a two-stroke penalty for an erroneous ball drop on hole No. 15 after hitting his ball into a water hazard.
Skeptics say Woods was given preferential treatment after he wasn’t disqualified from the 77th Masters Tournament for signing an incorrect scorecard. Even some of Tiger’s fellow competitors chimed in about Woods not being disqualified.
“They would have DQ’d me for sure,” former LSU golfer John Peterson said after his round Friday.
I’m not too sure about that.
You can’t blame Tiger for just being assessed a two-stroke penalty and not being removed from the tournament field. When he put his John Hancock on his scorecard, for all he knew, it was correct.
It’s the Masters’ fault for waiting so long. Officials had two chances to review the drop and penalize Tiger, and they didn’t.
Woods doomed himself when he told ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi he dropped the ball on No. 15 back two yards to give himself a better shot.
Only after this and apparent television viewer complaints did the rule committee decide to go back and review the ball-drop again.
Tiger might have committed a no-no for dropping his ball farther back for a better shot, but he should have been penalized immediately, and not after he already signed his scorecard. Plus, Rule 33-7 clearly states: “A penalty of disqualification may in exceptional individual cases be waived, modified or imposed if the Committee considers such action warranted.”
The defenses for Tiger taking his clubs and leaving the Augusta Country Club prematurely were hilarious.
Some sports writers churned out some stuff that caused me to fall out of my chair laughing. One opinion was that if Tiger won the Masters to help him reach Jack Nicklaus’ record 17 major tournament victories, it would be tainted.
Are you serious?
If Tiger did come back to win his fifth green jacket after losing two strokes, it would be even more of an accomplishment than if he would have won it straight up.
Some have mentioned Tiger could have saved face from his ordeal with ex-wife Elin Nordegren by withdrawing himself from the Masters.
So because Tiger stepped up and disqualified himself from a golf tournament, it would have taken some heat away after he cheated on his wife? That makes a lot of sense.
And did you really think CBS and the Masters’ sponsors were going to let him get disqualified anyway? Millions of Americans would have changed the channel.
The Masters might have made a faux pas with Tiger’s initial ruling, but they aren’t stupid.
Tiger drives ratings. I don’t even want to think about how down the sport of golf would be without Eldrick Tont Woods.
Woods gave false hope to everyone at the end of the final round, staying close enough to be in contention, but he ended up finishing 5-under Sunday, a few strokes behind winner Adam Scott.
But to say he didn’t get disqualified because he’s the most polarizing figure in golf, if not all sports, is off base. The Masters rules committee felt its late ruling led to Tiger signing an incorrect scorecard so they didn’t disqualify him.
Boom. Done. End of story.
He might have broken the rules, but he paid his price with a two-stroke penalty. There’s no way he should have withdrawn.
Micah Bedard is a 22-year-old history senior from Houma.
