Just a few short weeks ago, Haotong Li was on track to finish 3rd place at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.
Unfortunately, he unknowingly violated one of the new rules of Golf that came into effect at the beginning of the year. Specifically, his caddy was standing behind him, right on the golf line, when he started his putt. As a result of this ruling, he was assessed a 2 stroke penalty that dropped him down to the 12th place for the event.
The text of the new rule is that “a caddie is not allowed to (…) Deliberately stand on or close to an extension of the line of play behind the player’s ball when the player begins taking a stance for the stroke...”. The full text of the rule can be seen here
Some say that the ruling was questionable. It comes down to when they feel the player starts to take his or her stance on the green. Some feel that it should be when the player places the putter behind the ball. In this case, Haotong’s putter was parallel to the ball, not behind it.
Now if he was using the Turtly, then either Haotong or his caddie, Mike Burrow, would have had to physically pick up the marker just before the putt. That act would have solved the issue. They would have had to chance to read the line while the Turtyl marker was on the green, and the act of picking it up would have given Mike the clear indication to clear the line.
Let us know what you think. Was it a fair call?
Would using the Turtyl have prevented this call and saved Haotong Li almost $100,000?
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