Webb Simpson has never won a PGA Tour event and all the benefits that come with it — a million-dollar check, a spot in the next year’s Masters field and perhaps most importantly, a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour.
All of this made what transpired at the Zurich Classic that much more difficult to swallow.
Hanging on to a one-shot lead during Sunday’s final round, Simpson hit a putt on the 15th green that came to rest one foot from the hole.
A week of scorching temperatures and high winds left many of the TPC Louisiana greens dried out and browning, making the putting surfaces harder and faster than normal.
As he went to tap in his par putt, Simpson put his putter head on the ground, pulled back and watched as a gust of wind nudged his ball forward ever so slightly.
Rule 18 2-b of the Rules of Golf states that “If a player’s ball in play moves after he has addressed it (other than as a result of a stroke), the player is deemed to have moved the ball and incurs a penalty of one stroke.”
It’s unclear whether anyone would have noticed if he hadn’t said anything (CBS had to cycle through multiple replays), but Simpson said he knew he had to call the penalty on himself.
“Yeah, I mean, you’ve got to call it on yourself when the ball rolls,” Simpson said. “It’s just the right thing to do.”
With New Orleans Hornets guard Chris Paul — who starred at Wake Forest at the same time as Simpson — looking on from the gallery, Simpson lost to Bubba Watson on the second playoff hole.
One less stroke would have given him his first career victory, but at a cost.
Unlike other sports, where rules are bent, pushed and even broken, golf has enjoyed a reputation as a sport of honor, and the evidence tends to back up that claim.
Last year at the Verizon Heritage Classic, Brian Davis called a penalty on himself during a playoff after grazing a loose impediment during his backswing — a move that even slow-motion cameras couldn’t detect — and lost the playoff hole as a result.
In 2008, J.P. Hayes made it through the second of three qualifying rounds for the PGA Tour, only to realize he had broken a rule by accidentally using an unapproved golf ball for one hole.
Hayes called a rules official from his hotel room and disqualified himself, ending his PGA Tour chances for the 2009 season.
However, Simpson told reporters after the tournament that just because his actions were correct doesn’t mean the rule is a good one.
Though he had every right to be angry, Simpson calmly laid out the reasoning behind his thinking.
“I think there should be no rule at all,” he said. “When wind or other natural things affect the golf ball, the player shouldn’t be penalized.”
He said he would lobby for the rule to be changed, and it just may happen.
USGA Vice President Thomas O’Toole said Monday the organization would consider amending the rule to eliminate penalties for movement caused by wind or gravity.
After all, it’s just the right thing to do.
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Contact Ryan Ginn at [email protected]