There were plenty of controversies in 2017, including Lexi’s penalty at the ANA, Mike Whan’s Evian decision and Langer’s putting stroke.
Lexi Thompson was cruising to a major title at the ANA Inspiration when the unthinkable happened. Thompson was approached by LPGA officials after making a bogey at the 12th hole, and she was assessed a four-shot penalty for not properly marking her ball on the 17th hole – in the third round. Two strokes were deducted for the penalty and two more were added for signing an incorrect scorecard. Thompson rallied from the shocking turn of events to force a playoff with So Yeon Ryu, but lost on the first extra hole.
Who knew bunker liners would cause such a ruckus? But that’s exactly what happened in two separate incidents – Branden Grace at the BMW PGA and Charley Hoffman at the Canadian Open. Both players dug their feet into a bunker, only to claim their feet were touching the rubber sheet in the sand, thus preventing them from taking a firm stance. Grace and Hoffman were both awarded free drops, but they both made bogeys. Still, the rulings did not sit well with many of their fellow pros.
Several PGA professionals were not happy when Omar Uresti won the PGA Professional Championship to earn a spot in the year’s final major and six PGA Tour events. They were not mad at Uresti, instead the anger was directed toward a rule that allows former PGA Tour players with 20 years or more of PGA membership to earn A-3 life member status. That status allowed Uresti to compete in the championship. “I totally understand where they’re coming from,” Uresti said. “It’s not the first time it’s gone on. I’ve always understood both sides of the story.”
Those six words uttered by Erica Shepherd thrust her into the national spotlight during a semifinal match against Elizabeth Moon at the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship. On the first playoff hole, Moon missed a short birdie putt for the win, and then almost immediately pulled her ball back before Shepherd could concede the par putt. Moon lost the hole and the match, while Shepherd went on to win the title. “I feel awful and I feel like I lost and I want to cry,” Shepherd said. “I feel bad for her, but I couldn’t do anything.”
It didn’t take long for the Evian Championship to be marked by controversy. High winds and rain greeted players during the opening round, and LPGA commissioner Mike Whan made the decision to scrap play and shorten the event to 54 holes. The decision was curious given that there were still three days left, and even if play was extended into Monday to complete 72 holes, there wasn’t an LPGA event the following week.
Gary Player and Robert Trent Jones Jr. continued their war of words in 2017, two years after Player criticized Jones’ design at Chambers Bay. In an interview with Golf Digest, Jones called Player a “showboater” and claimed they had tense exchanges at the Senior British Open and the Rio Olympics. Player responded by saying Jones “seems to be suffering from either amnesia or senility,” and he was “blatantly” lying to Golf Digest.
Grayson Murray had quite the year. Whether it was calling out Bryson DeChambeau for withdrawing from Riviera or calling his fellow pros “boring” on social media, Murray’s Twitter account produced plenty of headlines. He even briefly deactivated his account, but he returned and took a shot at the PGA Tour Champions. “Does anyone really care is the real question…These guys were relevant 10 plus years ago.” Murray eventually apologized.
Ever since the ban on the anchored putting stroke took effect in 2016, Bernhard Langer and Scott McCarron have been among the many pros who have had to adjust to the new rule. Instead of going back to a short putter like Adam Scott, Langer and McCarron simply moved the end of the putter off their chest and kept the same putting stroke. Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee called the lack of enforcement of the anchor ban “appalling”, but the USGA defended Langer and McCarron.
Bernhard Langer won seven titles on the PGA Tour Champions, including three of the five majors, but he didn’t win the season-long points race. Instead, the Charles Schwab Cup went to Kevin Sutherland, who won the season finale to claim the title. Like the FedExCup, the top five players heading into the final event can win the points race with a victory. Sutherland picked a good time to capture his first title since the 2002 WGC-Match Play Championship. “That’s the system,” Langer said.
Despite winning the Central Massachusetts Division 3 boys’ golf tournament by four strokes, Emily Nash did not qualify for the state tournament because … she’s a girl. The high school junior, who played from the same tees as her male competitors, wasn’t even awarded a trophy for finishing in first place. “It’s a real injustice that she wasn’t announced as the winner,” said Robert Dufresne, a volunteer rules official with the Mass. Golf Association. Plenty of tour pros voiced their outrage with Emily’s story, and Annika Sorenstam even invited Nash to play in her Annika Invitational AJGA junior golf event.
