Hlas: Tiger's illegal drop drops golf on its ear

AUGUSTA, Ga. - The can of worms opened Saturday at the Masters was big enough to catch every fish in Augusta's Savannah River.

Should Tiger Woods have been disqualified for his gaffe during Friday's second round when he took an illegal drop at the 15th hole?

Was the 2-shot penalty Woods was ultimately handed Saturday morning for the infraction fitting for the infraction, or a slap on his powerful wrist? Should Woods have withdrawn from the tournament, as suggested by some luminaries in the golf world, including past majors champions Greg Norman and David Duval?

The whole affair was confusing and chaotic. Nick Faldo went from saying “He should really sit down and think about this and the mark this will leave on his career, his legacy, everything,” Saturday morning on the Golf Channel to “We're in a new era with new rules. Tiger played by the rules.” during CBS' afternoon telecast of the tournament.

Veteran golf star Fred Couples said the ruling set a “fantastic” precedent to protect players from unwitting mistakes.

Woods called the decision fair, saying. “Absolutely. I made a mistake. I took an improper drop and got the penalty.”

The suspicious and jaded among us may wonder if someone lesser-known than golf's No. 1 player would have been disqualified for such an infraction.

“You've heard everything,” PGA Tour player Zach Johnson said after finishing his Saturday round here. “You've heard if he is someone you don't really know, he's disqualified, and if it happens to Tiger, he's not. I would really like to think that's not the case.”

At that moment, Johnson only knew what he had heard before beginning his warm-up routine Saturday morning before his tee time.

“To formulate a strong opinion,” he said, “I would like to understand sequentially exactly what happened before I would jump to a conclusion there.

“From what I can tell, it was just unfortunate all the way around. I don't think there's a winner in there.”

The incident brought up several issues, like golf tourneys reacting to supposed penalties they are alerted to by television viewers. Some players are irritated by that.

“If I see somebody do a rules infraction, I don't know which number to call,” said defending Masters champion Bubba Watson. “So I don't even know how these people get a number to call.

“The sad thing is the high-profile player gets the camera on him at all times. ... Me today, there's no cameras on me today, everybody could not care less what I was doing.”

Johnson said he doesn't like the slowing-down of sports for instant-replays, but “If someone calls in and I unknowingly broke the rules, I kind of want to know. I don't want to lay my head down at night and say ‘You know what, I broke the rules but I didn't know it.' I'd still want to know. I would want whatever rule it is to be applied.”

Johnson and Watson said they call for a rules official on the course whenever they have an inkling of doubt about something.

“I don't know the rule book,” Watson said.

“I don't,” said Johnson. “Does anyone? It doesn't seem so.

“I'm not so sure I like or agree with the rules of golf, either. I'm not so sure I like or agree with the association that makes the rules of golf. That's a whole another story.”

Woods was summoned to Augusta National early Saturday morning because of a comment he made in a post-round interview Friday night. He had admitted he dropped the ball “two yards further back” than the original divot made from his shot that hit the flagstick at 15 and caromed backward into the water.

Many a golfer has disqualified him or herself for lesser violations.

“Under the rules of golf I can play,” Woods said. “I was able to go out there and compete and play.” And he's four shots out of the lead entering today's final round.

Johnson didn't play judge and jury on this specific case. He did say this:

“I'd like to hope any and all of my peers, if they knowingly or unknowingly violated the rules, would do what they feel is necessary to protect the field. In any situation, not just this one.”

Johnson, by the way, felt the controversial one-stroke penalty Tianlang Guan was assessed Friday for slow play was justified, saying “He was warned both Thursday and Friday numerous times. ... They were lenient. Very lenient.”

Then the 37-year-old Iowan marveled about the 14-year-old Chinese's composure after receiving the penalty.

“(At 14) I was trying to fit in, I guess, right?” he said. “I don't know if I hit puberty at 14.”

Here's a sidebar on Zach Johnson's Saturday round:

Zach Johnson's caddie, Damon Green, likes to break out what he calls a chicken dance for special occasions.

Like when his boss wins a golf tournament or closes out a win in a Ryder Cup match.

Saturday at the Masters, Johnson made a 12-foot birdie putt on the seventh hole at Augusta National, and Green briefly did his special strut. It was unusual to see him preening during a round, but that's how happy he was to see Johnson make a putt of note - and to stop a span of three straight bogeys.

“Making that birdie putt on seven kind of turned things around a little bit,” Johnson said.

It was the start of good sailing for the rest of Johnson's third round on a sunny, placid day. He picked up two more birdies, didn't have another bogey on his card and turned in a 1-under-par 71 for a 54-hole total of even-par 216.

“I had numerous opportunities and capitalized on a couple, and missed out on a few,” Johnson said. “I don't know if it all evens out, but any time you shoot under par in any major, specifically at Augusta National and especially on the weekend, I don't know if it's ever anything negative.”

Johnson goes into today's final round tied for 18th. He tees off at 12:10 p.m., Iowa time.

He birdied 11 and 12 and had a reasonable opportunity to finish off a birdie-birdie-birdie run at Amen Corner (holes 11 through 13), but his birdie putt at 13 just missed.

His shot of the day might have been at 16, when he was well off the green to the right of the pin on the par-3, but his downhill chip left him with a tap-in for par.

Perhaps his best putt of the afternoon was a long birdie attempt on 18 that was inches from dropping.

“I certainly had more positives today than negatives,” Johnson said.

He remarked that all the opportunities he had to score Saturday made him feel “great for tomorrow.”