When's A Whiff A Whiff?

Check out the YouTube video while you can because I'm sure the men with the little red phones in Ponte Vedra are working to get it taken down.

Ryan Ballengee explains what happened Saturday with Kevin Na in Las Vegas:

On the 15th tee Saturday at TPC Summerlin, Kevin Na was in the middle of his downswing when he decided not to hit the golf ball. He pulled up his swing and finished it by missing over the top of the ball. It seemed Na had whiffed but he didn’t, according to PGA Tour officials.

Na told officials and reporters he felt his weight transfer was amiss and would lead to a hooked tee shot, so he missed.

“I’ll take it back; it feels decent, and my transition is what I’m always working on,” Na said. “It’s always my bad habit is I get quick. And on the way down my transition doesn’t feel right, and I try to stop, and obviously it’s impossible for me to stop. The only way for me to stop is I have to come up and go over the ball.”

I think I'll remember this next time I whiff one! Thanks Kevin!

I believe Woodward and Bernstein would call this a non-whiff whiff.

Comments

[Seán O'Nuallain]

14/1.5 Intent to Strike Ball Ceases During Downswing; Club Not Stopped But Path of Clubhead Altered to Avoid Striking
Ball

Q. A player begins his downswing with the intention of striking the ball but decides during the downswing not to strike the ball. The player is unable to stop the club before it reaches the ball, but he is able to swing intentionally over the top of the ball. Is the player deemed to have made a stroke?

A. No. The player is considered to have checked his downswing voluntarily by altering the path of his downswing and missing the ball even though the swing carried the clubhead beyond the ball.

If the player had not successfully checked his downswing (i.e., he had struck the ball), he is considered to have made a stroke.

Any doubt regarding the player's intent must be resolved against the player.

[Hawkeye]

I think it should count as a stroke if the player begins his downwing (i.e., the stroke) and the clubhead passes the ball. Anyway, here's how to do it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKANS5rnrqI&feature=related

[Del the Funk]

That pretty much 100% clears it up -- good info,

[timc]

Na's agent will have him skip all events played on TPC's next year. First the 15 at San Antonio and now an ambiguous non-stroke at Summerlin. No such thing as bad press I guess.

[KeithT]

Rule does seem clear, though the " doubt regarding the player's intent must be resolved against the player" is interesting, as was tommy gainey saying he thought it was a whiff.

[GolfFan]

There was no "stroke" but there was a [French word for shower] who didn't take said non-stroke


or, for the very dense:
"what a [French word for shower] that Na is"

[Moi]

Obviously, anyone considering this as a stroke has no idea about the Rules of Golf

[BrianS]

Its not a penalty, that's pretty clear, but wow, isn't this guy a headcase ?

[Marky Mark]

Na seems to do anything that will delay taking a stroke and inducing slow play - fake whiffs, taking forever to assess the shot, frequently backing away after being in the address position for a prolonged period, having his caddie plumb-bob with a wedge shaft while Na stands at the side, Na remarking his ball everything after the caddie plumb-bobs with the wedge and so on and so on.

The TV commentators were getting annoyed, his playing partners were getting annoyed, the viewers were getting annoyed.

Someone needs to stop this.

[Average Golfer]

Blah Na Na.

[MJS]

If Na is having this much trouble pulling the trigger, how much longer before his swing turns into Charles Barkley's?

[Keith86]

More importantly is Whiff a word? I got it refused playing scrabble last week.

[F. X. Flinn]

So it's not a whiff if you intended to whiff, but it is a whiff if you didn't intended to whiff.

Need to add that to the list of golf opposites, e.g., swing easy to hit it far, hit down to make the ball go up, direction is more important on long shots but distance is more important on short shots, that list.

[Erik J. Barzeski]

Slow play sucks. Kevin Na is one of the worst.

This wasn't a stroke. Tommy Gainey is a douche, too, if he thinks it's a stroke. Sucky amateurs don't whiff as bad as Na did intentionally here.

[Del the Funk]

Na had 8 birdies including 3 of the last 4 holes. 2 more birdies than anyone else inside the top 10. I know he's not well liked around these parts but that's solid. Must have hit it in the middle of clubface pretty much all day.

[benseattle]

My question is: who sits in from of their big-screen TV with a video camera, recording all three hours of a golf tournament in "shaky vision" then posts a snippet on YouTube? Seriously, you see major pieces of video posted on that site, not with a clear, steady clip from a direct feed, but from some amateur at home who just happened to have his camera at the ready. I don't get it. If it's so important, let's put a feed directly from the network, not your mommy's couch.

[MJS]

Have to admit I gave Na no chance of holding on. So all credit to him.

[Del the Funk]

Keith86, if you didn't have an Official Players Dictionary (preferably a 2nd edition) handy you weren't really playing Scrabble. And yes, whiff is in the OPD.

Whiff -- "to blow or convey with slight gusts of wind" (not quite what I imagined)

Whiffer -- "one that whiffs"

Whiffet -- "an insignificant person"

Whiffle -- "to move or think erratically"

Whiffler -- "one that whiffles"

Slow play is here to stay on the PGA, Tour.

[Dr. Drew]

benseattle
have you heard of a DVR?
they wanted to record something, so they hit pause than replay.
Why I have no idea... but it isn't that hard with a phone in your pocket and a few beers in your liver.
cheers

[cold topped]

Got to love Na's reasoning - "my bad habit is I get quick". Who'd have guessed?

[Keith86]

Thanks Del we were camping deep in croc country and had no phone reception so no internet and the only word book we had was from 1993(wife got it the year she started uni)and whiff wasn't in it.

[johnnnycz]

@GolfFan: LOL...nicely worded.

@Eric J. B: Gainey may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but a douche he is not. I can assure you of that.

Although it's technically NOT a whiff...I would characterize it as a full swing brain-fart. Na appears to have some serious demons floating in his head. The fact that he won shows how much talent he's got. I hate to watch him play...hate it! Thank god for fast forward!!!

[powpursuits]

As soon as you address the ball with the club and then assume a stance the 'rule of intent' should apply'.

[JS]

This is ridiculous, I get that he's a pro and more than likely woldn't whiff on the ball but come on. Where do you draw the line? How could you ever prove that someone who actually whiffed wasn't "just pulling up"?

http://oneunderpar.blogspot.com/

[Wog]

"How could you ever prove that someone who actually whiffed wasn't "just pulling up"?

Because it's a game of honor.

[Fiber]

Great FXFlinn!

[Chad]

See: first comment. This "whiff" is a non-issue.

[PA PLAYA]

I could be mistaken... but if he had no intention of striking the ball, and had inadvertently struck the ball by accident, then per the rules - he would be permitted to re-tee without penalty.

[Woolly]

Obvious he pulled out of the swing. You can see him push it wide and over the top. No issue for mine...

[Spaceman Spiff]

Doesn't anyone remember when Tiger did this at the Masters a few years back? I think it was #13 during an early round. I think a bird didn't get clearance and buzzed the tower. Surprised it hasn't come up.

[lakeeriemike]

Kevin Na is not only slow he is a nasty dude. I rarely root against any player but this guy is pathetic. Talk to any tour official or player and they all say he is the worst guy to play with.