The Dumbest Rule In Sports Strikes Again: Jordan Spieth DQ'd From The Genesis Invitational For Committing The Blasphemous Sin Of Signing An Incorrect Scorecard
Harry How. Getty Images.Sports are littered with incredibly dumb rules, yet we continue to watch without a second's hesitation as they greatly impact our favorite teams/players and swing our moods. Golf though has the crown with the number one most idiotic rule in all the land. The only logical reasoning for it never changing is that most people forgot it even existed.
Well, today Jordan Spieth was disqualified from a fairly prominent golf tournament because he wrote down the wrong score on his own scorecard.
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Spieth finished 3 under through two rounds and found himself in the top 20 heading into the weekend. Not in prime position to win the whole thing, but certainly still in the game.
Now I'm not the biggest golf guy in the world, but if Spieth caught fire on Saturday and got into the mix for the final day you might find me tuning into the broadcast. That's now impossible because he basically committed murder on the course by accidentally writing down a 3 instead of a 4 on his scorecard. In an era of technology where we have countless apps, live tracking, and automated technology you still force golfers to stop 18 times a round to get out a pencil and write down what number they got on the previous hole. Whatever they write leaves their fate hanging in the balance.
Could you imagine making NBA teams keep track of their own score during games? Go watch any random pick up game in your town and I guarantee within an hour you'll see a few guys yelling at each other, debating if it's 8-6 or 8-5. Imagine requiring an MLB manager to keep a clean, spotless book the whole game, otherwise his team forfeits? 20-5 win for your squad, but your own hitter reached on an error in the 4th instead of the single you have in the book. Umps review your work and hand you a loss. Tough luck! Picture pro bowlers having to keep track of whatever the hell is going on during their game instead of the automated system?
I get that golf is a sport built on loads of tradition and old people, plus it's really not a hard ask for Spieth to keep track of his own score, but what the fuck are we doing here? How is DQing one of the sport's most popular golfers for something so harmless the right move? Spieth whips out his 9 iron and decapitates a course official after a missed putt. No problem, makes sense he's gotta go. Spieth spotted drinking some nips on the course while waiting for the group in front to go. Hands are tied, can't have that. But writing a 3 instead of a 4 on his own card? If you told someone who doesn't watch golf that this was an actual rule they'd laugh in your face.
Based on his apology below you'd think he got popped for steroids.
I wonder if this gets enough play that common sense prevails and the rule finally changes. Spieth DQ'd and Tiger withdrawing due to illness, I'm sure the folks at Genesis are thrilled.
Bonus: other dumb sports rules
-Using the chain gang to measure first downs
-Having refs run to the middle of the field on plays at the goal line where they proceed to look at each other and guess if the ball crossed the plane
-ground rule doubles penalizing offenses and limiting runners on to just two bases when they would have easily scored from first
-fumbling ball through endzone for a safety
-refs judging punts out of bounds based on….nothing but a good ol' guess?
-Soccer extra time just being up to the ref deciding on his own accord when to end the game
-one foot is a catch in college football, but two in the pros
-running out of challenges even if you got all of yours right
-no penalty in tennis with the serve clock if you simply toss the ball up in the air and then catch it for a re-toss