Golf's governing bodies agree rule change

Golf:Pádraig Harrington's disqualification from the Abu Dhabi Championship earlier this year hasn't been in vain after golf's governing bodies amended the rule where a player will not be disqualified based on evidence raised by television viewers.

In January Harrington was disqualified after signing for a first round 65 in Abu Dhabi. However a television viewer raised the issue of his ball moving as he marked it on a green. Because the Dubliner had already signed for his score then the two-stroke penalty could not be applied.

Now the Royal and Ancient Club (R&A) and the United States Golf Association (USGA) have announced a new interpretation to apply “in limited circumstances not previously contemplated” where disqualifications have been caused by scorecard errors identified as the result of recent advances in video technologies.

It covers the situation where a player is not aware he has breached a rule – which happened in Harrington’s case - because of facts that he did not know and could not reasonably have discovered prior to returning his scorecard.

Under this revised decision and at the discretion of the committee, the player still receives the penalty associated with the breach of the underlying rule, but is not disqualified.

In revising the decision, the two organisations confirm that the disqualification penalty still applies for scorecard breaches that arise from ignorance of the Rules of Golf.

Peter Dawson, R&A chief executive, said: “For some time we have been concerned that, in certain limited circumstances, disproportionate disqualification penalties have been required by the rules.

“This carefully considered decision reflects our desire to ensure that the rules of golf remain fair and relevant in the changing environment in which the game is played today.”

The new rule will be applied at the US Masters which gets under way at Augusta today.