News

Tour pro DQ’d from Honda Classic after his green-book was deemed too big under the new rules of golf

Published

2 years ago

Mar 1, 2019

While Thursday’s opening round of the Honda Classic saw Rickie Fowler poke some fun at the rules of golf in an amusing way, it also saw a disqualification which has the unfortunate title of being the first DQ of its kind since the updated rules of golf came in to play.

Alex Cejka is the professional in question, who was deemed to have been using a green-book which did not adhere to the new rules of golf. Cejka had been using last year’s green-book for the Honda Classic throughout the opening round, which contained larger scales of diagrams of the greens than are now allowed on the PGA Tour.

Following the DQ, PGA Tour rules official Robby Ware who informed Cejka of the decision after his 14th hole of the day, stated (per a Golfweek report)

“It was brought to the committee’s attention that Alex might possibly be using some old greens reading materials. Alex was basically using an old yardage book and old greens reading materials that did not fit the size to scale limit. He knew he was using an old book. He told me that. I don’t know that he was completely understanding of what the scale limits are.”

The issue was brought to Cejka’s attention by playing partner Cameron Tringale who noticed the old green-book which the 48-year-old was using, and the latter then called in an official.

Speaking after completing his round, Tringale said

“I saw it and told my caddie. I mentioned it to (Cejka) but was unfamiliar how exactly to proceed. I told the first official I saw what I had seen. I was perplexed. That doesn’t look right. Did I really see that? When we finished the 14th hole, I went to use the bathroom and when I came out I saw (Cejka) riding off in a cart.”

Interestingly, the green-reading book which Cejka had been using during the opening round detailed the greens of PGA National before they were re-vamped following last year’s Honda Classic.

Cejka was level par for his round, and before his DQ, the longest putt he made was from 8′ 6″ on his third hole of the day. Tringale and Palmer completed their opening round of the Honda Classic as a two ball, finishing their rounds one-under par and level par respectively.

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31 Comments

Dan Powers

Mar 1, 2019 at 7:33 pm

So the guy who made the report just happened to go to the bathroom when the rules official shows up? Riiiiiight.

Reply Report comment
Seth Riser

Mar 1, 2019 at 5:08 pm

USGA has nothing better to do than turn golf courses into goat tracks and dream up goofy rules. That’s does it – I’m giving my tour card back.

Reply Report comment
Brad

Mar 1, 2019 at 4:40 pm

Hello PGA, it’s reality calling. Time to dump your decrepit and extremely out of touch friend the USGA. They are destroying you with their bad ideas and senile decision making. Save yourself before it’s too late…

Reply Report comment
Tiger Noods

Mar 1, 2019 at 3:43 pm

Another USGA farce.

What should have happened is like all tournaments, they should provide a book. Every morning, they should provide a pin sheet. All players can work off of those books, because they are the size they are, and players don’t need to bring their own. In fact, on course, they should all be given a “standard”, and they all work from that if they choose.

Personally, I’d like to see them have lasers so the caddies don’t have to do so much math.

Reply Report comment
Terry Johnson

Mar 1, 2019 at 2:21 pm

Pros are playing for so much money they have gotten slower and slower reading books of info,taking everything like wind,conditions,slope, grain,mountains. Eliminate books get electric caddies and let the players figure the conditions like the average golfer. All the aids these pros have today just slow the play down. Give the player a laser and a bag of clubs. Let them figure all this info out with the brain that god gave them and give them a set time to make a shot. Wake up.

Reply Report comment
dixiedoc

Mar 1, 2019 at 11:52 am

The rules are the rules. In any other sport when the rules are changed every professional is aware and either complies or is penalized. It doesn’t take long to read the new rules. If he or his caddie didn’t then they are the ones who are at fault not the USGA. Yes, it’s the USGA that makes the rules not the PGA so don’t blame them.

Reply Report comment
Dave r

Mar 1, 2019 at 11:31 am

Why not just play golf? I used to watch golf on a Thursday to sun . Now I watch the highlights on sports net.the stuff that goes on the course is mind blowing. Yardage books ,green books, balls with lines, some players taking what seems like a month to figure out the wind , slope, elevation, uphill downhill, clouds going the wrong way, the grass is wet or dry. Now add in the new rules you lost me . Can’t wait for the highlites on sports net. These rules officials have ruined the game how about speeding up play there’s a thought you should discuss. When you do I’ll start to watch again, until then have a lovely day.

Reply Report comment
- frank cichon
  
  Mar 1, 2019 at 12:18 pm
  
  I agree with you 100 per cent. I would like to see a Tour where the player can use range finders, but the first player has say 45 seconds to hit and the next 40. If you hit it off the fairway you get NO FREE RELIEF PERIOD. YOU HIT IT THERE, YOU PLAY IT! If winds are an issue Tough…same for everybody …rub of the green. Each group could have 2 scorers and time every player. No green books …..some guys take as long as 15 seconds just to pick up their marker because the LINE on the ball is not aligned right. Int is PAINFUL to watch. IF I watch any golf it is with my PVR…but your idea of just watching the sports on the 11 pm news has just saved me several hours per week .Thank!
  
  Reply Report comment
  - bob carroll
    
    Mar 1, 2019 at 8:22 pm
    
    sounds like european golf.played the old course, foursome on every hole, your butt better be thru in 3 1/2 hours, no exceptions.
    
    Reply Report comment
- D
  
  Mar 1, 2019 at 2:02 pm
  
  Yeah but I bet you sit there on your fat arse watching 4 NFL matches on Sunday though, huh
  How many dumb rules does that game have? It still uses the yardage chain ffs
  
  Reply Report comment
  - beer belly bob
    
    Mar 1, 2019 at 2:26 pm
    
    What is an NFL match? Is that something you watch while sipping tea and eating crumpets?
    
    Reply Report comment
JP

Mar 1, 2019 at 10:56 am

And he pays his caddie how much? Shouldn’t he know the rule too?

Reply Report comment
Joe

Mar 1, 2019 at 10:51 am

Sue them under the ADA that he can’t use the new smaller books because he can’t read them… What a farce….

Reply Report comment
- Mower
  
  Mar 1, 2019 at 1:55 pm
  
  I had to re-read that headline – what the actual f*$#@?
  The green-reading book is too big or it’s last year’s version… why is this a f*#[email protected] issue? Who needs to be punched in the face for making this a rule?
  
  Reply Report comment
dat

Mar 1, 2019 at 10:45 am

Incredibly stupid all around. Golf is becoming a real pain to watch on TV with all of these stupid rule changes. Constantly mentioning them, let alone the enforcement of them, is distracting from the actual game.

Reply Report comment
Drew

Mar 1, 2019 at 9:44 am

Why does information not have a place in the game?

Reply Report comment
- Brian
  
  Mar 1, 2019 at 1:19 pm
  
  Because reading a green is supposed to be a skill. Mapping every contour of the green in a book should be outlawed.
  
  Reply Report comment
jeff

Mar 1, 2019 at 9:36 am

Tringale the snitch

Reply Report comment
Ray

Mar 1, 2019 at 9:08 am

Pretty funny that what he was DQ’d for was a out of date green book since they changed the greens after last year’s Honda Open. How much did they change because it certainly shouldn’t have been helping him, right?

Reply Report comment
Travis

Mar 1, 2019 at 9:04 am

Just be done with green books altogether. Be done with lines on the golf ball too for that matter. Green reading and aiming your putt (just like aiming all other shots in golf) should be a skill.

On the greens is the most significant area of the game the USGA can speed up play for Pros and Ams.

Reply Report comment
- aplynam
  
  Mar 1, 2019 at 9:12 am
  
  Let’s just do away with greens altogether and putt to a hole dug out with a spade by the “greens” keeper.
  
  Reply Report comment
- sal
  
  Mar 1, 2019 at 12:33 pm
  
  I agree, totally. Make the game pure again and speed it up before golf is gone.
  
  Reply Report comment
youraway

Mar 1, 2019 at 8:48 am

The Rule on greens reading material should be even stronger and a good decision was rendered, he should receive a DQ penalty. Oh yes, a professional would’t want to actually understand the Rules of the game they play, would they?

Reply Report comment
alexdub

Mar 1, 2019 at 8:46 am

Classless move by Tringale, IMO. Turning in someone for such a minor (and new) infraction goes against the spirit of the rules of golf. This is not even remotely close to something that you “call in an official” for. Let the round complete and talk to the committee afterwards if you’re that bent up about it.

Reply Report comment
DB

Mar 1, 2019 at 8:44 am

This is actually a good rule change. Tired of seeing players unfold their intricately detailed green-reading map before making a putt. Study that stuff before the round if you want, but it has no place in actually playing the game. Glad they are enforcing this rule.

Reply Report comment
- Joe
  
  Mar 1, 2019 at 10:54 am
  
  Serious question, I’d be curious if before the round started they could mark up a pin location sheet with slopes near the hole…
  
  Reply Report comment
Jerome

Mar 1, 2019 at 8:40 am

Tringale is a NARC!

USGA rules are a joke!

Warriors blew a 3-1 LEAD!

Reply Report comment
- Connor
  
  Mar 1, 2019 at 11:47 am
  
  This made me LOL
  
  Reply Report comment
  - Moses
    
    Mar 3, 2019 at 9:23 am
    
    NARC? More like a RAT
    
    Reply Report comment
Erik Morden

Mar 1, 2019 at 7:22 am

This is just another example of the PGA worrying about small things like a caddy standing behind a player before he lines up for his shot or the distance a player drops a ball. Why are we not seeing stories about PGA officials clamping down on players that take a lifetime to take a shot? If they are so worried about these new rules why don’t we start enforcing the time limit rules?

Reply Report comment
- kevin
  
  Mar 1, 2019 at 8:40 am
  
  having a caddie line up the player isn’t a small thing. it was a time waster and an awful look.
  
  dropping from knee height is dumb and an equally dumb look. i get the intent of the rule, and its still dumb. the difference in height will affect a handful of drops over the course of the season.
  
  Reply Report comment

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Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2021 American Express

Published

3 hours ago

Jan 20, 2021

GolfWRX Staff

GolfWRX is live at The 2020 American Express as the tour returns to the mainland United States following its Hawaii Swing.

Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed, Patrick Cantlay, and of course the tournament’s host, Phil Mickelson, will all tee it up in La Quinta, California, this week.

We have an abundance of special galleries as new gear floods the tour as players return to the continental U.S. for the first time in 2021, as well as general galleries for your perusal.

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News

Morning 9: Sony Open: Na wins | Feherty canceled | Eamon Lynch on JT

Published

2 days ago

Jan 18, 2021

Ben Alberstadt

By Ben Alberstadt

For comments—or if you’re looking for a fourth—email me at [email protected]. You can also find me on Twitter and Instagram.

January 18, 2021

Good Monday morning, golf fans.

1. Sony Open: Na rallies for win

AP report…”Three shots behind with six holes to play, Kevin Na birdied three straight holes and finished with an up-and-down birdie from behind the 18th green for a 5-under 65 and a one-shot victory in the Sony Open.”

“Na won for the fifth time in his PGA Tour career, and this one looked unlikely when he three-putted for bogey on the 12th hole at a time when there was no room for mistakes.”

“He answered with birdie putts of 15, 10 and 6 feet, and the winning shot was out of the right rough on the par-5 closing hole at Waialae and ran just over the back of the green. He chipped to tap-in range for his last birdie.”

“Na finished one shot ahead of Joaquin Niemann and Chris Kirk.”

Full piece.

2. Kirk retains status

Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine…”In the final start of his major medical extension, in the final round, on the final hole, Kirk stepped on the tee box at Waialae Country Club’s short par-5 finisher likely needing birdie to keep his PGA Tour card. But after finding the left rough off the tee and then short-siding himself in the right rough with his second shot, Kirk faced a difficult, 25-yard shot for his third.”

“The result: A deft pitch to 1 feet, 5 inches, which ended the stress and made the birdie putt much easier. Kirk tapped it in to clinch at least a two-way tie for third, which is what he needed Sunday at the Sony Open to satisfy the requirements of his extension.”

Full piece.

3. Feherty canceled

Dave Shedloski for Golf Digest…”Feherty said he learned in the spring that his show was ending—not long after golf’s COVID-19 shutdown and just weeks after Golf Channel informed staff that it intended to move its operations from Orlando to Stamford, Conn., where headquarters for NBC Sports Group is located.”

“I don’t know what the reasons were for the decision. I think it was a combination of things,” Feherty said via telephone from his home in Dallas. “We haven’t been able to shoot any episodes because of COVID. The Golf Channel move. I don’t know. Maybe it was just time.

“I think a lot of people are going to be surprised that it got canceled. It always sort of amazed me the [number of] people that watched. Ten years is a whole lot more than I thought I would do. I loved doing it.”

Full piece.

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4. WGC-Florida

AP report…”The World Golf Championship is moving from Mexico City to the Gulf Coast of Florida, a change driven by the COVID-19 pandemic that has put restrictions on travel and kept away spectators.”

“The PGA Tour sent a memo to players Friday informing them of the relocation for Feb. 25-28. It will be played at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, co-designed by Jack Nicklaus and Tony Jacklin.”

Full piece.

5. Eamon Lynch’s JT take

Eamon Lynch for Golfweek…”There are two immutable facts in this sorry mess: what Thomas said was as despicable as it was dumb, and Ralph Lauren has the right to decide who is an acceptable ambassador for its products. The company’s decision to drop Thomas won’t sit well with many, but it does not fall under the lazy jargon of “cancel culture.” It’s merely an example of the free market at work. The flip side of those facts is that an isolated, angry comment isn’t the full measure of a man, and that the defense of human dignity isn’t best mounted by an industry that postures while surviving on sweatshops.”

“I have no idea if Justin Thomas is homophobic, having never discussed with him the latest shenanigans on RuPaul’s Drag Race. What I do know is that Thomas is prone to tripping over hot mics on broadcasts. This incident illustrates that not all F-bombs are created equally, that there’s a fine line between being passionate and being a pillock, and for a brief moment Thomas strayed to the wrong side of it. But absent a pattern of hateful comments, there’s no reason to define him by that moment. The social media ecosystem is obviously not a three-strike society, but Thomas is certainly deserving of a second.”

Full piece.

6. What a round

Golf Digest’s Ryan Herrington…”During the third round at Waialae Country Club, a tight par-70 Seth Raynor design, the scoring average for the 73 golfers playing under calm, sunny conditions was 66.66. That translates to the lowest single-round average in a PGA Tour event in 18 years. The last time scores were that red was in 2003 at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, where the scoring average during the third round at Indian Wells in La Quinta, Calif., was 66.28.”

Full piece.

7. Michael Campbell saddened by current state of the game

John Huggan writing for Golf Australia…“Huggan: “Where is your game right now?”…Campbell…”It’s hard to say, because the courses I’m playing right now are so much longer than those on the senior Tour. These kids now hit it so far. They all get me by 20-30 yards off the tee. I used to be the last player – or second-last player – to hit in my group. Now I’m always the first. I’m hitting 7-irons when they are hitting wedges. So they have a huge advantage.”

“Do I like where the game is? Yes and no. A lot of the artistry in the professional game has been lost. It’s very one-dimensional – “hit is as hard as you can and go find it.” Maybe I’m old school, but you hardly ever see anyone playing the way I did anymore. Just about everyone out here plays a one-dimensional game.”

Full piece.

8. Part 2 of Tiger Doc

Adam Schupak summarizes what the second installment offers…”Part two begins with video of Tiger at Mountain Warfare Training Center in La Posta, California, and ESPN’s Wright Thompson tells viewers how 25 days after Tiger buried his dad in 2006, he went there to train with Navy Seals. One of them asks, “Why is the greatest golfer running around playing G.I. Joe?” Thompson recounts. “Tiger looked at him and said, ‘My dad.’ ”

“Thompson concludes that Tiger losing his father left “an Earl Woods size hole in his life.”

“None of this is really new reporting, but the video clips make it seem more vivid and real. Caddie Steve Williams simply repeats what he wrote in his book and had previously told journalists, but when he looks in the camera and says how Tiger, who spent his 31st birthday at a “Kill house” with Navy Seals, considered giving up golf to join the Navy Seals, it feels more believable.”

Full piece.

9. Kevin Na’s winning WITB

Driver: Callaway GBB Epic (9 degrees)

Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD GP 6 TX

3-wood: Callaway Epic Flash Sub Zero (13.5 degrees)

Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana RF 70 TX

5-wood: Callaway Epic Flash Sub Zero (18 degrees)

Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana RF 80 TX

Hybrid: PXG 0317 X Gen 2 (19 degrees)

Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 95X

Irons: Callaway Rogue Pro (4), Callaway Apex Pro 16 (5-PW)

Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Wedges: Callaway Mack Daddy 4 (54), Vokey Design prototype (’18) (60/06K )

Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: Odyssey Toulon Madison

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Plus4

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Full piece.

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News

New troops: PXG announces additions to tour staff for 2021

Published

5 days ago

Jan 15, 2021

Ryan Barath

Earlier this week, it was the Brooklyn Nets making big news in the NBA with player acquisitions. Now in the golf world, it’s PXG, who is also adding to its roster with a number of new players on both the PGA Tour and the Korn Ferry Tour.

The newest members of the PXG roster, which they like to call “troops” are

Jim Herman
Sung Kang
Danny Lee
Luke List
Henrik Norlander
Adam Schenk
Kyle Stanley
Hudson Swafford

Speaking to the switch, Sung Kang said

“PXG makes some of the best performing equipment in golf. I know, with the support of Bob Parsons, his team, and PXG clubs, that I am going to be able to take my game to the next level!”

The professionals from the Korn Ferry Tour joining current PXG staffers Scott Langley and Grant Hirschman include

Kevin Dougherty
Nicolas Echavarria
KK Limbhaust
Justin Lower
Seth Reeves
Charlie Saxon

“Between grit and their love of the game, every one of these new players brings something special to the course. We are proud to welcome them all to the PXG Troops and honored that they have chosen to put PXG in play.” -PXG founder and CEO Bob Parsons.

These players join a long list of PXG staff players, which also includes LPGA Tour players Lydia Ko, Katherine Kirk, Austin Ernst, Christia Kim, Brittany Lang, Haley Moore, Celine Boutie, Ryann O’Toole, Gerina Piller, Jennifer Song, Linnea Ström, and Mina Harigae.

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