海角大神

Golf, a game built on honor and fair play, is different from other professional sports. A golfer is expected to put their ball back exactly where they marked it, or lifted it off the green, or to penalize themselves if they ground their club in the dirt on a practice swing.

But what if, to the naked eye, a golfer appears to be playing fairly, but a video close-up or slo-mo reveals they replaced their ball a half-inch too close or kicked up a few grains of sand from a bunker?

This is the dilemma professional golf is in during the age of instant replay and armchair referees, equipped with television remotes that can rewind and zoom in. Lexi Thompson lost the first LPGA major of this year after a viewer emailed the tour, charging her with mis-marking her ball, and Dustin Johnson nearly lost the US Open in June after he was found to have bumped his ball forward just the slightest bit. 听

After public outcry this month within the professional golf world and on social media, the ruling bodies of the game appear to be listening. In a shift from their longstanding approach of updating the Rules of Golf every four years and the Decisions every two years,听the United States Golf Association (USGA) and the Royal & Ancient (R&A) implemented a set of rules on Tuesday, effective immediately, that puts a player鈥檚 word above certain video evidence that might contradict them.听

鈥� for applying rules and calling penalties on ourselves,鈥� said Thomas Pagel, the USGA鈥檚 senior director of rules, according to the Associated Press. 鈥淏ut we鈥檝e seen situations where there is no way the player or anyone around the player could be aware of that. When dealing with video evidence, should we be holding players to a high standard simply because they鈥檙e on television?鈥�

Like other major professional sports, golf has in many respects evolved in听tandem with technology, having听welcomed onto the links. But when it comes down to technology versus a player鈥檚 word, golf鈥檚 governing bodies are moving much more quickly than ever before to preserve the centuries-old game鈥檚 code of ethics, says Steven Schlossman, a history professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Penn., who specializes in the history of sports and golf.

鈥淸W]e have something new under the sun,鈥� Dr. Schlossman tells 海角大神 in a phone interview. 鈥淭he fact the main bodies are making changes quickly certainly indicates they are deeply concerned about the levels of public reaction and concerns about unfairness in shaping outcomes.鈥�

In the new decision in the Rules of Golf, essentially the听dogma of the game, the sport鈥檚 governing bodies announced two new standards, according to the Associated Press. One is that听a player can avoid a penalty if the violation could not be noticed with the naked eye. In the听other, officials can eliminate penalties if they feel players made a 鈥渞easonable judgment鈥� in taking a drop or replacing their golf balls on the putting green.

In an interview with Golf Magazine, Mr. Pagel of the USGA said the decision or set of incidents, but rather the governing bodies鈥� ongoing efforts to keep the 273-year-old Rules of Golf apace with modern times.

But headlines quickly dubbed the decision the 鈥淟exi Thompson Rule,鈥� referring to the kerfuffle involving the 22-year-old earlier this month. On the 17^th green of the ANA Inspiration in southern California, Ms. Thompson marked her ball before she sunk a 15-inch putt to maintain her lead. The next day, a television viewer emailed the tour to point out that Thompson appeared to replace her ball in a slightly different spot.

She was penalized two strokes for the mis-marked ball and another two strokes for signing an incorrect scorecard that resulted from the viewer鈥檚 email. The four-stroke penalty cost Thompson the lead. She managed to force a playoff with the new leader, So Yeon Ryu, but still came up short. Naturally, Thompson was devastated.

In her first interview since the incident, Thompson, who needed more than 30 seconds to compose herself, said on Wednesday that she didn鈥檛 intentionally put her ball back down in the wrong spot before she sunk the putt.

"I have seen the video and I can see where they're coming from with it. It might have been, I guess, me rotating the ball,'' she said. "I have always played by the Rules of Golf....听.''

Thompson鈥檚 emphasis on adhering to the Rules hearkens back to the origins of the game. Started in 15th century Scotland, it is a sport that reflects the upper-class values of the men who first played it, says Schlossman at Carnegie Mellon. Players not part of this elite have taken up this code of honor. But this stress on fair play serves a second purpose. It allows golf to be played over the wide area of a golf course, enlisting not just judges, but also players, fans, and, in some cases, TV viewers to also officiate.

鈥淚t鈥檚 highly problematic for [the league] to respond to people who have no official capacity,鈥� says Jeffrey Sammons, a history professor at New York University, and a former member of USGA鈥檚 museum and library committee. 鈥淭hey are in a modern world, but they are trying to stay in a bygone age.鈥�

This report contains material from the Associated Press.