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

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3 years ago

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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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Gianni is the Managing Editor at GolfWRX. He can be contacted at [email protected]

31 Comments

31 Comments

  1. 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

  2. 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

  3. 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

  4. 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

  5. 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

  6. 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

  7. 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

  8. 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

  9. 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

  10. 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

  11. 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

  12. jeff

    Mar 1, 2019 at 9:36 am

    Tringale the snitch

    Reply Report comment

  13. 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

  14. 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

  15. 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

  16. 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

  17. 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

  18. 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

  19. 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 2022 John Deere Classic

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3 days ago

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Jun 30, 2022

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GolfWRX was on site at the John Deere Classic in Silvis, Illinois, this week — and we have the WITBs and photos from the range and putting green to prove it!

We have seven general galleries for you to “mow” through as well as 13 WITB galleries — including Jason Day and Sahith Theegala.

Fire up your tractor and check out links to all our photos below and see what GolfWRXers are saying in the forums.

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

 

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Tour Rundown: Third major for Chun | Xander | Harrington

Published

6 days ago

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Jun 27, 2022

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As the golf season truncates, major events are played nearly every week. As greater support and visibility are offered across all genders and ages, the golfing public is compelled to keep its level of excitement at a fever pitch. This week, Merion; next week, Brookline. The following week, Congressional. And in July, the Old Course at St. Andrews. It simply doesn’t end. How fortunate are we who are able to follow these exciting pathways!

This week, the PGA Championship for women was held at Congressional Country Club, near the capital of the USA. The PGA Tour traveled across New England, from Brookline to Hartford. The DP World Tour celebrated an event in Germany, while the Korn Ferry Tour relocated to Maine. As for the USGA, it moved its staff from Massachusetts to Pennsylvania, to run the USGA Senior Open for men. The highways and byways were busy with travelers, but we are still able to run down the best of five tours. Please, join us!

USGA/LPGA: PGA Championship is Chun’s third major title

How much of a lead does one golfer have to establish, to post 75-75 on the weekend and still win the tournament? For In Gee Chun, the answer was somewhere around seven or eight strokes. The Korean champion surged ahead of her peers through 36 holes, then fell behind a surging Lexi Thompson. The finish was one for the ages, for good and bad reasons.

Thompson has been a hard-luck competitor over the years. She has surged in many a major, only to fall back and come oh-so-close. Sunday in June of 2022 was a replay of those crushing defeats. Thompson began the day with two birdies in three holes, to make a move as Chun faltered. Meanwhile, In Gee stood plus-four on the day through nine holes, and had fallen off the pace. Even when Thompson faltered with bogey at the seventh, she still held a lead as they turned for home.

It was then that Chun steadied herself. She played the inward half under par, which is what champions do. Thompson came home with the unsteady gate of a newborn pony. She posted four bogeys against two birdies, and finished one excruciating stroke behind Chun, in a tie for second with US Open champion Minjee Lee. The win was her third major, after previous triumphs at the Evian and the US Open.

USGA/PGA Tour Champions: USGA Senior Open nearly escapes Harrington

Padraig Harrington knows what it’s like to have a major title handed to him by an unfortunage opponent. On Sunday, he nearly bequeathed a similar gift to Steve Stricker. Harrington carried a sizable lead into round four at Saucon Valley, only to blow his advantage by the 11th green. Steve Stricker gathered six birdies from the 8th hole on, to reach nine under par with the day’s low round of 65. Just when all seemed lost, Harrington secured a birdie at the par-four 15th, then parred his way in for a one-shot margin of victory.

Harrington stood at eleven-under par through three rounds, and seemed in total control of the Senior Open. His game on Sunday was all about holding on and trusting that things would work out. With nothing to lose, Stricker played wth the opposite mentality. His putter was hot and his scorecard turned red with birdies. Unfortunately for the Wisconsin native and the 2019 champion of this event, his recovery would end one shot shy of a playoff. Harrington would convert a few clutch putts down the stretch, to earn a first USGA title.

PGA Tour: Travelers Championship to Schauffele

Eyes were on the final pairing of Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay as round four commenced near Hartford. By day’s end, a Massachusetts amateur nearly stole the show and the title. The pair who were invincible as a team at the most recent Ryder Cup, played mundane golf on Sunday at River Highlands. While Schaufele stumbled to a one-over front nine, Cantlay was erratic beyond words. Four bogeys, a double, and two birdies saw him to 39 and what would ultimately be an 11-spot drop, to 13th place.

As the cards were dealt, J.T. Poston and Sahith Seegala emerged as Schauffele’s challengers. Each would finish at 17-under par on the day. Would it be enough to catch the Olympic gold medalist? Also ringing bells was New England amateur Michael Thorbjornsen. The former US Junior champion parlayed four birdies and an eagle into a challenge of his own. Bogeys at 12 and 13 ended his charge, but the Stanford student and golfer would awaken memories of Francis Ouimet in his attempt at winning against the professionals.

In the end, it was Schauffele for a sixth PGA Tour win, at 19-under par. Is a major title in the offing? It’s the next step for the recently-married golfer who has nearly everything else. Thorbjornson’s fourth-place finish was also noteworthy, and the tour prepared to head to the middle of the continent, for the John Deere Classic.

 

DP World Tour: BMW International is Haotong’s third

On Sunday in Germany, Haotong Li fought against the reality of a first win in four years. He also fought against the memory of nearly giving up professional golf in 2021. Each time he had a run of birdies, a pair of bogeys would pedal him backward. Ryan Fox was the first to take a run at the leader, but fell a pair of shots shy at -20. Fox was three-under on the day through nine, but needed four-under on the back.

Next came Thomas Pieters. After trading two birdies and two bogeys over the first six holes, Pieters caught fire with five birdies over the next twelve holes, and reachedd 22-deep. Haotong Li fell two off Pieters’ pace, but rallied with birdies at 15 and 16 to catch Pieters. The two reached the par-five 18th in three during a brief playoff. Haotong buried a massive birdie effort, and Pieters was unable to match. The win was Hatotong’s first since the 2018 Dubai Desert Classic.

Korn Ferry Tour: Live and Work in Maine Open is work for Coody

Pierceson Coody was paired in the final round with home-state amateur Cole Anderson. More shades of Francis Ouimet; could a local, non-profesional win here? After the front nine finished on day four, who would win wasn’t the question. Instead, it was by how much, and could Coody shoot 59.

The recent NCAA team champion from UTexas caught fire in his third professional start, and posted five birdies and one eagle for 28 on the outward half. With the sub-60 watch in full form, Coody proceeded to make bogey at holes 10 and 11. Away went the notion of the record round, and out trotted concern for whether Coody would give back all of his fine work. Coody steadied, and posted seven consecutive pars for 66 and a 20-under par total. A slew of Korn Ferry Tour veterans had joined the chase, but one of them would need a 28 of his own on the back nine, to have a chance.

Jacob Bergeron matched Coody’s 66, and reached 15-below. Nelson Ledesma, Will Gordon, and Fabián Gómez finished one back of Bergeron in third. As for Anderson, birdies at 9 and 10 got him to red figures on the day, but late-round ups and downs brought him to plus-one on the day and his own spot in the third-place tie. Enviable work, but not what he had wanted at sun’s rise.

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Winning Footwear: Xander Schauffele’s Adidas Tour360 22 golf shoes at the Travelers Championship

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7 days ago

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Jun 26, 2022

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Xander Schauffele capitalized on Sahith Theegala’s 72nd-hole misfortune at the 2022 Travelers Championship. X cozied a wedge approach next to the pin and rolled in a 3-footer for a two-stroke victory.

On his feet at TPC River Highlands: Adidas Tour360 22 golf shoes.

The most recent incarnation of the Three Stripes’ flagship tour shoe is available in seven colorways. Schauffele looked to be sporting the Cloud White/Cloud White/Silver Metallic in Connecticut.

An upper made in part with recycled materials is joined with Adidas’ Boost midsole for energy return and enhanced comfort. The compay also touts its 360Wrap design for support, which works in tandem with the Insite sockliner for comfort and balance. A very spike intensive Spikemore traction system sees six twist-in spike on the TPU sole of the shoe in a bid for maximum traction.

Adidas Tour360 golf shoes retail for $210.

See Xander Schauffele’s winning WITB from the Travelers here.

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