Golf has a message to all armchair rules officials: "don't call us." The governing bodies announced that they will no longer accept calls and emails from fans who claim to have spotted rules violations while watching the game on TV, Golf Week reported.
Instead, the U.S. Golf Association, R&A and members of the PGA Tour have agreed to introduce at least one official who will monitor all major televised tournaments and check for rules infringements.
"The message is, as a fan, enjoy watching the game and the best players in the world, but also have the confidence that the committee in charge have the rules handled," said Thomas Pagel, the USGA's senior director, according to The Telegraph.
The decision comes after Lexi Thompson was penalized during the final round of the ANA Inspiration after officials declared a penalty for a rules infraction from the previous day that had been called in by a TV viewer, The Kansas City Star said.
Thompson went on to lose the tournament in the playoffs and the incident caused massive outcry.
Pagel said the controversy that arose from the incident had tainted the game but, as of next year, viewers will no longer be able to make such calls.
"The committee [at each tournament] will take on the responsibility of monitoring in real time," said Pagel, according to Golf Digest. "Essentially everything you're seeing at home we've already seen it. We're going to apply the rules accordingly."
The Telegraph noted that Padraig Harrington, Camilo Villegas and Tiger Woods had all fallen victim to the calls of sharp-eyed viewers who brought up violations that may have gone unnoticed.
The new rules will alter much of this. Pagel explained that other scheduled changes to take effect in 2019 were designed to do away with "unnecessary penalties."
"A lot of the stuff that people are looking to call penalties on from home – a good majority of those penalties go away with the rules modernization code," he said, according to Golf Week.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.