Poulter tweets his two cents on rules

GOLF TOUR NEWS:AS PÁDRAIG Harrington gets back on the horse after last week's untimely disqualification, his Ryder Cup team-mate Ian Poulter had some choice words regarding the rules of golf on the eve of this week's inaugural Volvo Golf Champions tournament in Bahrain.

Harrington was disqualified in Abu Dhabi for accidentally moving his ball when lifting his marker on the green. He had fired an opening 65, then fell foul of “trial by TV” and disqualified the following morning after European Tour referee Andy McFee examined the footage.

Though the three-time major winner has put the incident behind him, the straight-talking Poulter was happy to offer his opinion.

“It’s about time they readdress some of those rules to see if it actually makes this game stay the great game it is, because it does look silly,” said Poulter, who also referred to Camilo Villegas’ disqualification earlier this month. (Another television viewer spotted the Colombian illegally flicking away a loose divot while his ball trickled towards him down a slope after a chip shot.)

“Rules of Golf Book, Rule 22-4, Paragraph 3, Line 7 – the rules of golf are complete b****cks and are stuck back in 1932,” added the world number 12 on his Twitter account.

Had the violations of Harrington and Villegas been addressed during the round, rather than after they signed their cards, they would have incurred just a two-shot penalty.

As a result, the USPGA Tour this week asked the United States Golf Association to review the rulebook, and the Royal and Ancient (the sport’s governing body outside the US and Mexico) confirmed they are taking a fresh look at the rulebook.

“There’s no common sense involved with a number of the rules, so that needs to be addressed, and even Jack Nicklaus said it last week,” added Poulter.

For his part, Nicklaus said “probably the whole book of the rules of golf should be changed. The game should be simple. People should be able to understand the rules and the rules should be common sense,” added the 71-year-old.

Keeping with the rules theme, McFee was at pains to clarify a rare guideline regarding sand areas ahead of the €1.7 million Bahrain event.

For the purposes of the 98-player tournament at Royal Golf Club there will be no bunkers; all sand areas are treated as waste areas. It means “players will be able to take practice swings, move loose impediments and be able to ground the club lightly behind the ball in all sand areas”.

“We have taken this decision to provide clarity for the players,” said McFee.

If only a similar clarification had been made at last year’s USPGA Championship at Whistling Straits, where Dustin Johnson was leading by one playing the final hole, but suffered a two-shot penalty for grounding his club on what he thought was “just a piece of dirt”.

“If you turn up at a tournament you never want to be talking about other things and be distracted,” said Harrington. “So this week has very much been about getting into this tournament, last week was last week.

“It really is a blank canvas this week, but I’ll be a bit more anxious because you always want to get a good start to the year,” added the Dubliner.

He is joined in the desert by compatriots Darren Clarke, Peter Lawrie, Damien McGrane and Michael Hoey.

If it’s horses for courses, then Tiger Woods has strategically opted for the happy hunting ground of Torrey Pines to mark his seasonal debut at this week’s Farmers Insurance Open on the USPGA Tour.

Woods has dropped to number three in the world, and has been “working hard” on his short game over the winter.

But he has won a staggering seven times around the California venue, six of those in the then Buick Invitational.

He was also a sensational winner of the 2008 US Open at Torrey Pines, denying veteran Rocco Mediate in a Monday play-off when virtually playing on one knee. The 35-year-old is paired with Mediate (48) for the first two rounds.

Woods also gave his opinion on the recent high-profile disqualifications. “It’s our responsibility to know the rules, that’s part of playing the game,” he said.

“We are out there doing it for a living, but the only difference with these rulings is that some infractions have happened and will continue to happen (and not be picked up), but some guys are on TV all the time, so it’s maybe not a level playing field.”

There is no telling how the 14-time major winner will fare on his seasonal debut, but he will surely look to regain that once bullet-proof putting stroke if he is to bridge the gap to his last win in Australia in November 2009 – the by now infamous sign-off before his private life fell apart.

European Tour

Tournament: Volvo Champions.

Course: Royal GC (Montgomerie Course), Bahrain.

Field: 98.

Irish players: Pádraig Harrington, Darren Clarke, Peter Lawrie, Damien McGrane, Michael Hoey.

Prize money: €1.7m (€283,330 for the winner)

Defending champion: Inaugural event.

TV :Sky Sports 1, 7-10am, 11am-2pm.

Time difference: +3 hours.

USPGA Tour

Tournament: Farmers Insurance Open.

Courses: North and South, Torrey Pines, California.

Field: 156.

Prize money: €4.2m (€698,000 winner).

Defending champion: Ben Crane.

Format: one round on each course, final 36 holes on South Course.

TV :Sky Sports 3, 8-11pm.

Time difference: -8 hours.