In The Rough

Mr Science:
http://www.golfdigest.com/golfworld/columnists/2009/06/golf_memorial_kenny_perry_controversy_verdi

The duffer takes his 3-wood out of the bag, and sets it down behind the ball, in deep rough. He lifts it, waggles, sets it down again a little harder. And again and again. Steps on the grass behind the ball, looks at the green and at the 200-yard marker, and says to his caddy: "What do you think, 3 wood?"

"Not yet, sir".

Pukka Dave:
Did you see the video . . . I tho’t I might have sent it to you from CNN/SI . . . “pretty damning” they said . . .

Bloggable joke . . . 8^D . . .

Mr Science:
No, I didn't see it.

Pukka Dave:
There’s a video link – watch how the ball pops out of the rough when he pushes the grass down behind it . . .
He’s using one hand . . . not grounding the club like he claims . . .

http://www.golfdigest.com/magazine/blogs/localknowledge/2009/05/kenny-perry-did-he-or-didnt-he.html

Mr Science:
He clearly is grounding the club, and perhaps even addressing the ball, because of grounding it, though not with the intent to hit it. I don't see the ball moving ("pops out?"), though clearly some of the grass between the ball and the camera has been flattened, allowing the camera to see more of it. The European rules official quoted in this article all but stipulated that his lie was improved, but said that the rule involved intent, not result. Plus, it was a sand wedge, not a 3-wood, so even the extent of any improvement would have been arguable. It's not like he ended up with a clean lie, and got up and down because of it.

I think what he was doing was more like "testing the conditions", which is prohibited in a hazard, but not elsewhere. He surely got a better break from the officials than the LPGA pro (Annika, I think?) who was penalized for moving a loose divot that was a foot in front of her ball in the fairway, thus "improving her line of play".

Besides, Charley blew it on the 71st hole, when he missed the 4-footer.

Pukka Dave (Blogger Gets the Last Word . . . 8^) . . . )
I see very little American golf here…
They show the prior Week’s Sunday broadcast on CNBC-Europe Sunday afternoon – but I don’t get CNBC, yet.

Yeh, it was annika who was penalized, which I still don’t understand.

I go at it the other way . . . which is not to say, the proper way for a ruling . . .

If one was going to press down the grass, one would do it the way he did it, standing back from the ball, with one hand, almost absent-mindedly – I see duffers do it all the time . . . the next step (pristi stanice(!)) is to take your club and gently “turn over” the ball so that it will ride up on top of the grass instead of sit down . . . that’s what’s damning, is that it’s not even a grey area to me: what’s the prior step in the array of “improving your lie” ? I think it must be something like moving some debris that’s not quite loose, or even a divot . . . 8^D . . .

When I say pop-up, I just mean that before he starts you can only see the top of the ball, and when he’s done, you can see all but the very bottom . . . he improved his lie.