PENALTIES
Top golfers blast an odd rule that lets viewers call the shots
Viewers calling in rule violations and affecting the outcome of major tournaments would be a thing of the past if players competing at this week’s US Masters have their way. World No8 Rickie Fowler and PGA Championship winner Jimmy Walker are the latest to criticise the controversial rule a day after American Lexi Thompson lost 2017’s first LPGA Major after a surprising penalty. "There’s no other sport where anybody can call in and say: ‘Oh that was a foul.’ It just doesn’t happen and I don’t know why [golf] is the exception," Walker said. "Nobody gets call-ins and outs in tennis. It just doesn’t happen and I think we need to change that." Thompson had six holes to play when her three-shot lead was wiped out by a four-shot penalty for an infringement that was committed the previous day and was brought to officials’ attention by an e-mail from a television viewer. She incurred a two-stroke penalty for playing her ball from the wrong place and an additional two strokes for signing an ...
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