Player Throws Headcover At His Caddie Over Penalty And It Unravels From There On Twitter

I'll just say the protagonists are on the Web.com Tour, and this award-worthy drama stars Rhein Gibson, the player, Brandon Davis, the (now former) caddie to Gibson and in their finest contribution yet to human drama, the Rules of Golf.

Kevin Casey pieces together the pieces of this manspat puzzle for Golfweek.

Wow. I think these Web.com Tour boys have been in the Bahamas too long!

Comments

[John]

That Gibson hasn't already been rubbed out for several months is a stain on the PGA Tour.

And it was about the least gracious 'apology' imaginable. What a shocking bloke.

[Whodat]

The caddie is correct on 26-1/9. Just plain poor officiating. Unlike you needing to say the word, “provisional” when playing a provisional, you don’t need to state your intention precisely for a ball in a hazard. The player saying “f****” and walking away makes it very clear he did not intend to play that ball.

Lousy comportment by the player, btw.

[Matt A]

Yeah, 26-1/9. caddie did nothing wrong and the team was penalized for it by bad officiating.

[BradO]

If I was that caddy, Gibson wouldn’t have made it to his ball to tap it in, he’d be choking in that head cover. Flog act by a flog of a bloke

[Real Looper]

The caddie should have already had the player's putter in hand with the headcover off. Any high school caddie was taught this in their first training loop. The penalty is unfortunate but the player having to grab his own putter and remove the headcover is inexcusable.

[D. maculata]

Hard to believe Brandon Davis never attended the Joe LaCava workshop for correct drop procedures.

[L Hand]

Agree with everybody that says over officious officiating the problem, not the caddy's fault. If they had already picked out a drop spot, then it is "reasonable to assume" that the ball has been abandoned by the player. Although I personally don't have a problem with the player letting off some steam by tossing the headcover, although not that it was accompanied by the Trumpian - "You're fired."

[GolfFan]

Merely the behavior expected from a pampered junior player getting a few more years down the road

[PJ]

Some people are just jerks. If I were his caddie, Gibson's bag would have left my shoulder a few seconds after that putter cover hit my face.

[3foot1]

IBM/Augusta National need to create a Siri-style rules app. "Watson, my caddy just picked up my ball in a hazard. Is that OK?"

[Adam Clayman]

Once again, a pro doesn't know the rules. Shocking. Maybe there should be a new rule? When the player whines that "Nobody told me" there's no penalty.

[ChuckDietzenTNnotIN]

Agree with Adam Clayman. It's tough to know all the Decisions on Rules, but if they had, Gibson and Davis could have countered the incorrect extra penalty stroke prior to signing the card with the appropriate Decision and avoided it.
While golf is a gentleman's game and I believe it should be played as such, if a fist fight had broken out between the player and caddie, I would be watching every minute of Web.com broadcasting for the next year. It would definitely, if only temporarily, boost tv ratings.

Afterthought: Why was the ball even retrieved? They didn't need to identify it. Were they going to put it into play again? Was it going to be Gibson's new "water ball?"

[North Texas Golfer]

Real Looper, just wondering if you thought the player did anything inexcusable? Other being a complete jerk.

[2.5Pac]

Yes Rhein is an ass for tossing the putter cover at the caddie. And yes the player should know the rules. But shouldn't caddies be more aware of the rules also? That's a pretty basic rule in golf, no one touches the ball except the player himself. Curious what some of you think of the apparent lack of rules knowledge by some "professional" caddies.

[dave]

the official needs to go back to school. No penalty there.

[North Texas Golfer]

2.5Pac,

I just saw the entire incident on the Golf Channel and the caddie clearly messed up. And to compound it, how the caddie described the incident in the little video he made doesn't exactly match up with what I saw on the Golf Channel. He definitely should have known not to pick the ball up until he knew exactly what the player intended to to. That being said, it looked to me that there was no way the player could have played the ball.

And, yes, caddies should have a solid basic knowledge of the rules.

[Brad Fritsch]

I took a quick survey of fellow pros and tour caddies...none had ever heard of this rule. Of course, the #1 rule for a caddie is “don’t touch the ball” but still ..... I wouldn’t have thought it mattered in a hazard if the intention, said or unsaid, was to drop. Always learning.

[North Texas Golfer]

Brad,

I agree that it shouldn't matter in a hazard. This is where the rules need a "common sense" application, if you will. Something along the lines of if the ball gets picked up in a hazard then that takes the option of playing it from the hazard out of play and the player has to drop with a one stroke penalty and nothing more.

[hacker]

you guys didnt quote the whole decision

read the last paragraph, which reads:

"In such cases, any doubt should be resolved against the player."

Maybe "Fuck" means the same thing as "iam going to drop in accordance with rules 26-1(b)" in Australia, but in the Northeast, where i am from, it doesn't.

Rules officials are not typically in the habit of guessing what web.com tour players are capable of attempting. if its less than completely submerged, there's a doubt about what the guy will try.

Loopers-you are not the decision maker here---leave the shiny white ball that your boss got fr free right where it is. Give him a new one (also free)

and by all means, if you do pick it up and get fired, douse yourself with the social media equivalent of gasoline and light up a you tube posting.

[Rules Official]

The caddie and player deserved to be penalized. Those of you blaming the official are wrong.

http://www.golfchannel.com/article/golf-central-blog/official-disputes-caddies-version-gibson-penalty

[hacker]

thanks RO.

[digsouth]

Lots of CYA going on in this 3 way. *dig*