The Masters 2013

Well I still don't understand it because I thought ignorance of the rules was no defence.

In an interview after his 3rd round,Tiger was asked if he had considered withdrawing.He said "No under the rules of golf I am abiding by the rules." If that ws true then why was he given a 2 stroke penalty ?

I really hope Lee Westwood has a good final round and gets himself in contention.
Realistically he possibly has too much to do but if he can post a 66 or better you never know.
He needs to hold some putts though .

Great finish to the Masters with Adam Scott taking the lead with a birdie at the last,but Cabrera knocked one close under pressure to take it to a play- off.Cabrera came close to chipping in at the 1st extra hole & narrowly missed a birdie putt on the next hole & Scott holed from 15 feet to become the first Australian to win a green jacket.

(14-04-2013 10:59 )whizzer Wrote:  They didn't disqualify him because they didn't spot the rule breach until he owned up to it? Have I got that right?

Basically yes. They saw what he did but somehow judged it was OK and didn't say anything to him. Only later on did they change their minds and speak to him about it, but by then Woods had signed his scorecard, so they felt a DQ would have been harsh. I think they made the correct decision in the circumstances.

The Daily Telegraph explains the whole thing very well:

Masters officials were advised by a TV viewer that Woods had broken the rules while he was still finishing his second round. All the committee had to do was view the tape and consult Woods before he signed his card.

Presumably, Woods would have told the referees what he later told the press — that he went two yards further back for distance reasons. They would have said “two-shot penalty”, Woods would have signed for 73 and carried on.

Yet somehow Fred Ridley and his committee reviewed the replays and came to the staggering verdict that Woods had “complied with the rules”. It was clear that the initial divot was at least five feet in front of the ball. While Woods’s error was one of ignorance, the rule-keepers error was one of terrible judgment.

Had they not reviewed the tapes, there is no doubt in my mind that they would have disqualified Woods after hearing him tell ESPN why he dropped the ball where he did.

He's too big a story for them to DQ. If they'd kicked him out, all the coverage would have been that he'd have won otherwise.

In fairness, his back 9 was impressive. I still hate his guts, mind.


Credit to Adam Scott, his putts on the 18th and the extra 10th were worthy of the prize, but also credit to Cabrera, his approach on the 18th was incredible under the circumstances, he was so close on the 17th and both the play-off holes as well. Given that Scott is #7 in the world, and Cabrera has apparently done diddy squat for 4 years, I think it's all the more amazing.