Simon Dyson, a European Tour golfer whom observant TV viewers nailed for violating a rule at the BMW Masters tourney on Friday, may get the heave-ho from officials for his overt violation.
Simon Dyson faces potential Euro Tour suspension over rules breach
Simon Dyson incurred a 2-shot penalty and disqualification from the BMW Masters last week for a rules violation. After reviewing the evidence of Dyson’s breach, Euro Tour officials may force the Englishman into an unplanned hiatus.
Warren Little
Putting aside the issue of whether arm-chair refs should have the power to influence golf tournaments (regular readers are familiar with our position), Dyson incurred a late two-stroke penalty after organizers received word from afar that the Englishman had breached Rule 16-1a by tamping down an imperfection on the green in the line of his putt.
After marking his ball on the eighth green at Lake Malaren Golf Club in Shanghai, China, during the second round, Dyson used the ball to touch what appeared to be a spike mark -- a definite no-no under the Rules of Golf, which let players fix only impressions left by balls.
Emails and tweets from television watchers brought the infraction to the attention of officials, who docked Dyson two shots and disqualified him for signing an incorrect scorecard.
Four members of the tour’s players’ committee who confabbed prior to Sunday’s final round were “outraged” after viewing a video of Dyson’s actions and are considering suspending the six-time Euro Tour winner, according to the Daily Mail’s Derek Lawrenson.
Dyson’s fellow competitors, Lawrenson noted, were less than thrilled with their mate’s antics, especially after a spike mark seemed to send a three-foot putt from Paul Casey on Saturday offline.
“As players, you come at this from a different angle to the general public,” one “influential” player told Lawrenson. “We’re not worried in cases like this about trial by television. As a player, you just look at it and you’re thinking, ‘What the hell do you think you are doing?’”
European Tour chief ref John Paramor and chief executive George O’Grady will meet after tempers cool to determine if Dyson deserves more punishment than the DQ.
In the meantime, Lawrenson advised Dyson to expect a boatload of criticism from his playing partners at his next stop, the Turkish Airlines Open, though we’re guessing that noted rules scofflaw Tiger Woods, who will also tee it up in the limited-field event beginning Nov. 7, won’t be among the boo-birds.
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