Rahm Wins Irish Open, Lexi Rule Surfaces Too
After a temperamental U.S. Open, Jon Rahm once again showed he can put rough weeks behind him by dominating the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open. 
This quote from Alistair Tait's Golfweek account suggests someone is very confident heading into The Open, and his updated odds reflect similar confidence from punters.
“That makes two for two, shooting 65 in the final round,” Rahm said. “Obviously, it’s a very different tournament here for me. I’ve been saying I haven’t played my best golf, and today, for 15 holes, I played the best golf I can ever play on the golf course with the weather that we had. Obviously, the bonus of holing out on four was great, but man, this is a nice feeling.”
The round was highlighted by a hole-out at the fourth.
As for the ball mark issue and changes in the rules, here is Tait's account with this from rules official Andy McFee on why the rules are more forgiving:
“One of the points in the new decision is that the outcome depends a lot on what the player says and his explanation of the events,” McFee said. “Jon said: ‘I knew I marked it to the side and then I was trying to make an effort to put it back to the side.’ He’s definitely made the effort.
“We’re talking about the difference between the ball being lifted at 10 o’clock on the ball marker and put back at 11 o’clock which is not a problem.
“The new decision the R&A and USGA crafted, with the full knowledge from the PGA Tour and ourselves, is all about trying to eliminate these fine margins and get to a position where if a player has made a reasonable judgement then the game will accept it if it’s slightly wrong.
This screen grab shows his ball was closer to the hole and not in the same location:
@GeoffShac Rahm at Irish Open pic.twitter.com/LHSEG7g7rL
— Mark (@govolx) July 9, 2017
In other news, the Irish Open will again play at a links next year, heading to the newer of two courses at Ballyliffin. Liam Kelly reports.
Sunday, July 9, 2017 at 11:03 AM
Reader Comments (64)
The lack of professionalism with some of these young pros is astounding. Is this a trait of millennia’s “it’s not my fault” generation? There is erosion at the top of professional golf credibility with Chella Choi, Lexi now Jon Rahm not being able to replace their marked ball properly. It also falls in the lap of the USGA and R&R for not having the foresight to see this problem when they put the word “intent” into the rules.
Rahm stated, “To my eyes, I put the ball back exactly where it was.” This is an absolute get-out-of-jail card played by Rahm. Andy McFee got this call wrong. McFee stated, “Do I think he’s got the ball back exactly in the right place? No, I don’t. I think the ball is slightly in the wrong place. We are talking a couple millimeters, her and there, so that falls within the limitations of the video evidence for Television.”
Poor rules officiating by McFee. The distance away from the original spot is irrelevant. The fact that McFee accepted, by his own observation, that Rahm didn’t replacing it back to the same spot was a breach. A couple millimeters or a foot away from the original spot does not matter. It also doesn’t matter if he gained an advantage or not.
The integrity and principles of the game suffered once again today.
Nick- there's a huge difference between taking advantage of the rules and disregarding them altogether. Rahm breached the rule, McFee made a wrong call. The fact, as Zokol said, that Rahm didn't own up to it is perhaps most disturbing of all.
XC- "closer" has absolutely nothing to do with it. Different is the point.
As far as the Lexi/Rahm issue, in my opinion that's the rules makers caving to public pressure, social media and technology. They should have just left that one alone.
It is not the pro tours' responsibility, in-tournament, to make decisions that will (in the rules officials' minds) "grow the game." Just officiate. Like you always have.
I'm so confused about where golf is headed.
I will say, though, I am firing a shot at the Euro Tour rules official for completely blowing the ruling. Should have been 2 shots, no questions asked. I also am firing a shot at Rahm. After seeing that video he should be ashamed of himself. Other players have called penalties on themselves after the fact ( My guess is Zokol and Brad know some of them ), if Jon Rahm gives a whistle about the integrity of himself and the game, he should do the same.
For those who want to let that go, I hope I never have to play a match against you.
Is a rules official supposed to worry what Twitter will say? Imagine if a basketball or soccer/football ref made decisions based on concerns about public opinion!
(By the way, as the story goes, the ref of the Steelers/Raiders playoff game in 1972 supposedly let the "Immaculate Reception" stand as called because he found out there wasn't enough police presence to guarantee his safety if he reversed the call!)
Rah clearly broke the rule, a result of forgetting to put the ball back on side of coin. As far as I can tell there was no intent to gain advantage - which of course makes no difference. That is what makes it different to Lexi's situation.
Since when did it become ok to mark the ball on the side on the tour? It never happened when I played.
This speaks volumes. Ref should make the proper call and the establishment should back them up. The game is bigger than this. If quality guys like Brad Fritsch and Chico are concerned it suggests a gigantic problem.
Because the two ball marks were on basically identical spots, it was difficult to mark it correctly and Rahm probably mismarked it by a half inch. Maybe at the British Open, they can put a camera on every putt marking for some players and maybe disqualify people for mismarkinga fifty foot putt by a quarter inch. Would make great tv.
Good question Chico. Remember when Faldo reported Sandy Lyle about the tape on his putter all those years ago ? ( albeit after the round, Nick could have told Sandy earlier )
I suspect pros do see the odd infringement, but look the other way ( like Dyson ) but might be fearful of being unpopular with ther fellow pros. That seems more important than protecting the field, or, they rely on TV to do that for them. I think most golfers here have seen someone mark a ball incorrectly, some flat out cheat by putting the coin feet ahead of the ball when no one is looking. When they got called out tempers rose, ( there was wagers on the game ) no fists but we never played with him again. But I wonder if pros now avoid that unpleasantness by relying on TV.
No chance for Rah to have viewed the TV with the discussion right after the hole was complete, but no scorecard signing issue with this arrangement- however= Rahm told the ref if he needs to be tapped for 2 to do it, just tell him right then, where he knows.
Chamblee pointed out that with a penalty assessed then, that it could have ---could have--- changed the outcome of the event- possible mental meltdown of Rahm, possible renewed fire in the belly of some pursuer(s). Who knows, but Rahm DID SAY that he would accept a penalty if the ref felt it was warranted.
It is all very whack, IMO. In one of the last groups on Saturday, Rahms playng partner hit one so far right it was behind all the spectator stuff, and the drop area was a clear shot to the green from darn near the fairway relative to his actual ball being closer to Scotland than the drop he was given. And yet we are all taken aback over a poor placement on a gimme. And I DO agree -- it is a rule, and he should have been assessed, though I believe one stroke is more proportional to the crime.
ALSO---
I STILL MAINTAIN THAT IN A SPECTATOR EVENT, NOT CALLING "FORE" DESERVES A TWO (2) STROKE PENALTY. IMMEDIATELY. One MAJOR basic etiquette of golf is to warn others of a stray ball. Hell, it is criminal to not warn people of a ball traveling at over 150 MPH Pure assault with a deadly weapon. Seriously.
dig
ps_ awesome course!
Bravo. Save this comment for the future to use on the top of the page as a quote of the day. And get used to this stuff, it's only going to get worse.
I am constantly blown away by rules violations I see in casual play,?even by skilled playing partners. The good of the game would have been better served by penalizing Rahm, sending a message to all that rules are to be taken seriously. Instead they did the opposite, and our gentleman's game takes another step backwards.
Also, I'll reserve judgement on Rahm until I learn at what point he saw the replay.
He obviously forgot that he marked it on the side. But yup, clear violation, even though unintended.
Never believed it and now we are discovering its not necessarily the case.
If it wasn't Rahm, have a feeling the ref would've called it different. Shame on him.
Shame on the ruling bodies who continue to foul up the game.
Out of respect for other players, particularly around the hole, Tour players marked their ball with pennies. Nothing shinny around the hole please. Even using a quarter was considered a no-no, as it could be distracting to other players.
I recall playing with Jerry Pate and Jonathan Kaye at Kingsmill. Kaye was a rookie and didn’t know the Tour etiquette about marking your ball. Kaye was using a shinny 50-cent piece. I noticed it before Pate did and knew this was going to get interesting. The moment Jerry Pate noticed Kaye’s 50-cent piece around the hole, Jerry Pate told Jonathan Kaye to move his coin over 12 to the right to get it out of his vision of sight. A rookie mistake
A Tour player using a poker chip… come on.