LPGA Makes the Right Call On Pressel (Guest Post by Rick Woelfel)

May 23, 2012 by Tiffany Litherland

[jbox width=”250″ color=”white” title=”Guest Contribution” shadow=”4″]

Rick Woelfel is the Editor/Publisher of Women’s Golf Report where this article originally appeared. To obtain a copy via e-mail, contact him at rwoelfel2@verizon.net.

[/jbox]

LPGA MAKES THE RIGHT CALL ON PRESSEL

By Rick Woelfel

The LPGA Tour took a big step forward on Sunday, although it may not appear that way on the surface.

The dustup involving Morgan Pressel and Azahara Munoz in the Sybase Match Play Championship wound up taking most of the luster away from the final between Munoz and Candie Kung, which Munoz eventually won to claim her first LPGA title.

But the discussion afterward was about Pressel’s difficulties. Some have claimed that penalizing her for slow play was not in keeping with the intent of the rule; that since only four players were on the golf course at the time the officials should have ‘Put the watch away’ and ‘Let the players determine the outcome.’

The critics’ arrows have misfired.

The concept of ‘Let the players play’ stems from the philosophy of advantage-advantage; that is an infraction should be called if it places an opponent at a disadvantage.

That philosophy evolved, quite intentionally, in sports that involve physical contact between opponents, basketball in particular, although it is often applicable in other sports as well, notably soccer and ice hockey.

It must be noted however that it does not apply in many situations. A basketball player is either in bounds or out of bounds. A last-second shot does or not beat the horn. A puck does or does not cross the goal line.
There are few gray areas to be found in the Rules of Golf which cover every conceivable situation.
And what happened to Morgan Pressel was most assuredly not a gray-area call. Her group was on the clock and she violated the pace-of-play policy. Thus, she was penalized.

Those who claim that Doug Brecht, the official who made the call, was being too literal in his interpretation of the rule are ignoring the broader ramifications.

First Brecht and Marty Robinson, the referee for the Pressel-Munoz match, had a responsibility to protect the entire field, and to ensure that the rules were enforced consistently throughout all four days and all six rounds of competition, regardless of the player involved.

That last point is no small matter.

Not so long ago there were indications that certain LPGA players were receiving preferential treatment in the matter of rules issues.

Brecht’s actions in the Pressel matter sent a loud, clear message; that all players in the field are created equal regardless of their level of name recognition or position on the money list.

No other approach can be condoned if the LPGA is to thrive.

While some would call Brecht overbearing, we would call him an official who stepped up when it mattered and made the call that had to be made.

If Doug Brecht ever decides to take up umpiring softball, I want him on my crew.

The author has been umpiring baseball and softball since age 14. He has also officiated football and basketball.