COLUMN: Some golf rules are even worse than NFL's 'process'

     I have long thought, and often written, that the NFL’s “process of the catch” rule is the most ridiculous rule in all of sports.

     You know the one: For a pass to be complete, the receiver not only has to catch the ball and come down in bounds on two feet; he then has to carry the ball with him for an undetermined amount of time, maybe walk with it to the sideline, take it to dinner after the game, etc. (I’m exaggerating, but only a little).

     Turns out I was wrong. Professional golf has at least two rules that drop “process of the catch” a couple of notches down that list.

     One: a TV viewer can change the outcome of a tournament, even a major. Two: a golfer’s score can be changed a day later.

     Both were on display during a women’s golf tournament back in April. I wasn’t aware of this until just last week, when I read about it in an issue of Golf Magazine. I’ve since read online articles and watched video of the situation.

     The scene was this: Lexi Thompson had dropped a fabulous chip shot to within a couple feet of the hole, during the Saturday round of the ANA Inspiration in Rancho Mirage, Calif., one of the LPGA’s major tournaments.

     As golfers do, she got to the ball, put down a marker, picked up the ball and then re-set it. However, she set it down an inch or so away from where it originally lay. Whether she did it intentionally or not, it’s a violation, and an understandable one, since a better lie – even on a green – could give one an advantage.

     The problem was, no one on the course said anything about it. In fact, it wasn’t discovered until the next day, when a television viewer called and reported it.

     LPGA officials then looked at video, said “A-ha!” and decided Thompson should be given a two-stroke penalty.

     Are you catching this? A fan sitting on his couch, possibly spilling chips on the carpet, can call in a rules violation. If it’s found to be true, it can actually affect the outcome of the tournament. If NFL officials had such a policy, I could dial them up on those frequent occasions when a call goes against the Vikings, and perhaps justice would be served.

     But that’s not even the worst part. The LPGA also ruled that because of the penalty – which wasn’t enforced until the next day – Thompson signed an “incorrect” scorecard, and should receive another two-stroke hit.

     My question: How can she be penalized for signing an incorrect scorecard, when – as far as she or anyone else knew – it was correct at the time she signed it? It only became “incorrect” when the penalty was assessed the following day.

     In all, Thompson was penalized four strokes. She was told about this during her final round on Sunday, after the 12^th hole. Her two-stroke lead at that moment suddenly became a two-stroke deficit.

     She battled back to get to a playoff, but lost. Without the four added strokes, she would have won easily. So it’s reasonable to say these preposterous and overbearing rules cost her the tournament.

     I have no qualms about the original penalty, provided someone on the course, that day and on that hole, called her on it. And even then, I don’t believe moving the ball one inch on the green could give her a two-stroke advantage. A one-stroke penalty, I could see.

     But that a viewer was able to call in and change the outcome of a major tournament (you may recall this happened to Tiger Woods some years back), and that a rule could be used to change a score a day later, redefines “ridiculous.”

     If a viewer can report a violation a day later, why not a week later, or a month? Should all tournament trophies and prize money be withheld until golf fans across the nation have been polled to make sure none of them found anything wrong?

     And what about signing the card? Seemingly, a golfer shouldn’t sign anything until the entire tournament is over, for fear of a card being incorrect because some retroactive punishment was doled out.

     So, my mild apologies to the “process of the catch” advocates. That rule remains stupid, but not as bad as some of the ones in golf.