Tringale DQ's Self Week After PGA, Forfeits $53,000

Bob Harig reports on the rather remarkable act of sportsmanship by Cameron Tringale, who felt he may have broken a rule at the PGA and called in to report himself a week after the championship.

Ryder Cup standings would not have been impacted by his DQ.

"We are very appreciative of Cameron coming forward to inform us of this situation," said Kerry Haigh, chief championships officer of the PGA. "It again shows the great values and traditions of the game and the honesty and integrity of its competitors."

Comments

[DJ Watts]

"It again shows the great values and traditions of the game and the honesty and integrity of its competitors."

Ugh...this holier-than-thou attitude is rather tedious and laughable in the face of the Tour's sanction policy

[Josh]

This is the most stirring display of gallantry and sportsmanship since Mountbatten gave India back to the Punjabs

[fyg]

Why did he take a week over this?

[WJ]

Anyone on here ever whiffed a short putt when they got careless on a tap in? I did it once in a tournament and I KNEW it right away. It shouldn't take a week to admit to it.

[Neil Young & Geraldo]

Maybe he forgot he did it and then remembered later on in the week

[mcaron]

Does anyone else have a problem with this? A week to ask, ponder, decide? Someone else had to bring it to his attention.

[RickABQ]

I hate to admit it but I am cynical on this as well. Isn't *intent* the key to making a stroke? If he intended to hit it, it shouldn't have taken a week to decide to DQ himself. If he didn't intend to hit it, no penalty is incurred. What am I missing? How many times has Kevin Na deliberately whiffed on the tee box?

[3foot1]

This raises as many questions as it answers, but I say better late than never.

[golfboy2.0]

i have a huge issue with situations like this, including the situations with Blayne Barber. No reason to mention integrity here at all... if he truly had integrity he would have IMMEDIATELY notified his playing partners etc and this should have been rectified right as it happened. the fact that it took this long is quite embarrassing and honestly shows a lack of integrity as I agree with Mcaron, someone else must have brought this to his attention

[Ron Read]

Beg to differ with that above. Bottom line, Cameron did the right thing, and it cost him. It was clearly his intent to strike the ball. He certainly knew that, and he knew the rule when he reported the infraction. Did he know when he signed the card? We'll never know. Matters not. Hale Irwin did the same and immediately added the stroke, It cost him the Open Championship. I'll bet Tringale and Irwin have little trouble sleeping.

[Louis Friend]

This wasn't some obscure rule that he just found out about after the fact. He might be sleeping well now, but I would bet it was the poor sleep for the last six days that made him fess up in the first place. To paraphrase Bobby Jones, should we praise him for bringing the stolen money back to the bank?

[Colin MacGillivray]

Barry Rhodes or someone with an wikipediac knowledge of the rules. Isn't there a time limit when the result is the result and can't be changed? I'm pretty sure one was established when Boby Locke winner of the British Open was televised in the 1950's and seen to have placed his ball in the wrong spot on the 72nd green and had been awarded the trophy and someone spotted it the next day.

[gov. lepetomane]

@ Josh +1 This gets my vote for best comment of the month.

@ RickABQ My thoughts exactly when I read the initial report, with nothing about intent. It only said something like he had waved his putter over the line of the putt.

Even though he was correct to come forward regardless of the time, to do so at 5 or 6 days post conclusion is awkward. More awkward than the Yang-O'Toole (almost) handshake in my opinion.

[Chico]

@ Colin- Rule 34-1. 34-1b says that a penalty in stroke play should not be rescinded, modified or imposed after the competition has closed. I believe this is the Rule- plus a but of equity! - was used in the Bobby Locke case. There are 4 exceptions to this and the Tringale case would be covered under the exceptions and there is no time limit on these - the penalty of disqualification must be imposed.

[Stiggy]

Ron Read, I am not for one minute doubting Hale Irwin would have counted that whiffed putt, but in his case it was televised and the scoreboards were updated to reflect it (both on site and on TV).
He couldn't have ignored it, even if he wanted to.

He finished one shot behind Tom Watson.

So the whiff potentially cost him a playoff (although you never know how one less shot would have impacted the rest of the round for either Watson or Irwin).

[Chico]

@ Stiggy- Irwin called that on himself immediately. You could see him mouthing something like" I tried to hit that" to hit partners very clearly.

[about time]

He ultimately did the right thing, but do not call this a remarkable act of sportsmanship. As many above have pointed out - intent is the key word - and intent does not take a week to figure out.

[DTF]

"It was clearly his intent to strike the ball. He certainly knew that, and he knew the rule when he reported the infraction. Did he know when he signed the card? We'll never know. Matters not."

1. If it was "clearly his intent" how could he not "know"?
2. Dollars to donuts he knew when he signed the card.
3. Sure it matters.

[time about]

I wiiffed a putt in a tournament once, didn't say anything to my playing partners until the guilt overwhelmed me and I felt like I was going to throw up...... I confessed walking off the very next tee box.

[Ron Read]

There's no statute of limitation if the player willfully violated a rule. I recently posted a story on our site golftrditions.com about a gentleman who reported a violation that occurred bout 25 yrs earlier. Conscience doesn't always forget.
Hale Irwin was the only person who knew his intent, and he immediately reported his intent to strike the ball. Cameron did not, but ultimately did the right thing, so it seems.

[Peter Norrie]

Re Hale Irwin's putt - it happened in the 3rd round, so it's a bit of a stretch to say it cost him The Open. Totally different ball game had he not whiffed!

[CRB]

Maybe Tringale was playing the new "Relaxed Rules of Golf"??? He didn't realize it wasn't a penalty until he saw that Charlie Rymer didn't list "intent" on the tv screen.

Whatever was going through Tringale's head the last week, at least he did the right thing in the end and the world will continue to spin.

[Maybe]

Maybe someone asked him about it on the range the next week.

The Telltale Heart started getting louder

[Just night putting]

Where were all of you rules nazis when Eldrick was making up his own rules 3 or 4 times last year? Be consistent.

Fire away.

[DTF]

"Cameron did not, but ultimately did the right thing, so it seems."

"Did he know when he signed the card? We'll never know."

Sounds like you're contradicting yourself there.

He knew....

[Jupiter]

Thank you Just Night Putting... I hate to always be the one to bring Tiger into the story but if Tiger would have admitted his cheating after every round he'd a few wins short of where he is today.

[Louis Friend]

Just night putting,

You must be new around here if you are wondering where the outrage over Tiger's rules infractions was on this site. The site was thick with it.

But it never hurts to troll, I guess.

Fire away.

[highside]

When Tiger cheated and stole the Players, the entire announcing crew took an ad break, put the fix in, and praised Eldrick when they returned to air. Tringale's cheating is small potatoes, but cheating is part of the pro game, and is tolerated by the twits who run the show.

[RM]

While checking twitter during the PGA, I actually saw someone make mention of the whiffed putt and even mentioned Tringale by name. It must have been someone on site if it wasn't shown on TV. So I assumed it was all common knowledge and dealt with at the scorer's table. So while to some degree his coming forward is admirable, I can't help but fall into the "why'd it take so long" category.

[firing line]

louis night putter isn't new just a tranny with an itchy dixie using a new handle.

[CRB]

Who is Tiger?

[Just night putting]

Geoff

Wow - my posts have been deleted for mentioning Eldrick's possible P.E.D. use and / or that he is a skank but "Firing Line" seems to have a little more freedom, yeah?

[Ron Read]

DTF...Yes, he knew. In the end, the outcome was the right one. I may be alone in commending him.

[DTF]

So Ron let me see if I have this straight....

1. He whiffed it.
2. He knew he whiffed it.
3. He can count.
4. He recorded a 4.
5. He should have recorded a 5.
6. He allowed the person keeping his score to mark him for 4.
7. He should have told the person keeping his score to mark him for 5.
8. He played 7 more holes and said nothing.
9. Upon reviewing the cards he said nothing.
10. He knowingly signed for a 4 on #11 when he had actually made a 5.
11. He accepted $53,000 all while knowing he had signed an incorrect scorecard.

How is a suspension for cheating not in order?

[Ron Read]

That's why Commish Finchem receives very big bucks to impose the Tour's rules. Those rules are not yours or mine. Conscience is a funny thing. It this case, it belongs to one.

[DTF]

^^^^ Huh?

Two other questions...

1. What's your affiliation with Tringale?

2. What's the statute of limitations on a free pass for cheating as long as one fesses up at some point later one? A week? A month? A year?

[Ron Read]

DTF, sir, I presume. I have met and started Cameron Tringale one or twice at the US Open.I know he attended GA Tech. Otherwise, like Sgt Schultz, I know nothing about him. There is NO statute of limitations. As stated earlier, I posted a story at www.golftraditions.com about a golfer who called a penalty on himself 25 yrs after the violation. I respect him, too. None of that excuses the violation. It should never happen.

[DTF]

So he cheated and because he fessed up you're willing to forgive him....that's certainly your prerogative. That said, let's not obfuscate the truth -- the guy cheated.