Lexi Thompson Update: Mike Whan Walks a Fine Line

LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan weighs in on the debate surrounding the 4-stroke penalty imposed on Lexi Thompson at the ANA Inspiration.

The 4 stroke penalty imposed on Lexi Thompson at the ANA Inspiration last Sunday continues to reverberate through the golf world.

However, the initial outcry over a penalty that seemed to many excessively severe is giving way to more reasoned discussion about several aspects of the circumstances surrounding the penalty.

Real Time Dismay

From the outset it was a rules decision that pleased no one. Sue Witters, the LPGA rules and competition VP, said it made her “sick” to have to deliver the decision to Lexi, 24 hours after the infraction occurred, as Thompson was coming down the back nine with a two stroke lead on Sunday afternoon.

As the situation unfolded, Tiger Woods tweeted his real time condemnation of allowing tv viewers to “wear striped shirts.” Tiger’s position was shared by many – players and fans alike.

In her post-round interview, the ever-gracious So Yeon Ryu, who won the ANA Inspiration in a playoff against Thompson, made clear her conflict about a decision that was inherently unfair to her competitor but that also put her back into contention for the championship.

I earlier raised questions about why the two players who could have remedied the wrongness of the 4 stroke penalty – Suzann Pettersen and So Yeon Ryu – chose not to take action. But in the heat of the moment, those kinds of options are less clear than they are in retrospect.

The Debate Broadens

The Sunday afternoon public dismay carried over to Monday. Piers Martin’s condemnation of the the process by which Thompson’s infraction was identified continued to focus conversation among pros warming up for the 2017 Masters Tournament.

But as the conversation among the pros continued, it wasn’t limited to the issue of “fans wearing stripes,” as Tiger had initially suggested. Phil Mickelson let all of us in on the problems surrounding mis-marked balls – apparently a sin more common among pros than any of us realized – at his Masters interview.

"I know a number of guys on Tour that are loose with how they mark the ball and have not been called on it."

Even Jack Nicklaus got into it, recalling his own experience with competitors who mis-marked balls to gain an advantage on the putting surface. (To be clear, Thompson was not accused of intentionally mis-marking her ball, but that’s the direction the conversation took at the Masters interviews.)

Nicklaus sought a quiet resolution, reporting the situation to the tournament director who, in turn, spoke to the player involved. We’ll never know who that player was – Jack’s too much of a gentleman to point fingers and name names. He explained:

"Nothing was ever said publicly about it.. Stuff stayed out of the public eye back then. They couldn’t get Twitter on their transistor radios."

Mike Whan Seeks Balanced Discussion

Still, the Lexi Thompson penalty decision will continue to focus our conversations about the Rules of Golf over the coming days, weeks, months.

It was, when all’s said and done, a penalty that did not seem to fit the crime, and LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan speaks to that issue best in his podcast interview.

More from Pro Golf Now

Perhaps most critical to this unfolding conversation will be how to balance respect for the game against the widened perspective afforded by electronic technologies.

In this brace new world of hand-held personal devices and cameras with long-range lenses that would put a barn owl’s vision to shame, on-site fans and tv viewers are potential whistle blowers simply because they may see potential violations that are missed by on-course rules officials.

Mike Whan is ideally positioned to facilitate a conversation that will lead to clarity and consensus across the pro tours about two big questions emerging from this ongoing and very public discussion.

First, where should the tours draw the line between fans and rules officials?
Second, at what point should a completed round of golf be regarded as completed?

Next: Lexi Thompson: Where Should Rules Officials Draw the Line?

Let’s hope there’s a resolution before another player falls victim to an over-zealous couch potato.

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