Golf purists can take a breather now. Touted as one of the biggest changes in the rules of the game, Golf buffs will no longer be able to call in or email possible rules violations they witness while watching broadcasts of tournaments on television.

 

United States Golf Association (USGA) and R&A issued a joint statement citing that beginning January 1 2018, golf's major professional tours will no longer allow viewer call-ins to dictate potential rules violations captured on television broadcasts.

 

 

                                          Golf is all set to ditch the controversial tattletale rule

 

 

What the Governing bodies said

 

“The committee (at each tournament) will take on the responsibility of monitoring in real time,” Thomas Pagel, the USGA senior director of Rules of Golf and Amateur Status, told Golf World. “Essentially everything you’re seeing at home we’ve already seen it. We’re going to apply the rules accordingly. We want you to be a fan. Enjoy watching the world's best players. Let the rules be handled inside the ropes between the players and officials.”

 

Now that spells bad news for Golf addicts who felt they could alter the flow of the game by calling in rules violations!

 

 

What Lexi Thompson has to say

 

 

 

                                       Lexi Thompson was a victim of the controversial Golf rule 

 

 

There was a huge uproar in the Golf terrain in April that Thompson when Lexi Thompson, who was leading in the final round of the ANA Inspiration, was told that she had been assessed a 2-shot penalty because of a rules infraction a day earlier.

 

A TV viewer emailed that Thompson had replaced a ball on the green at the wrong spot and because she signed her card after the round as usual, that was another 2-shot penalty. Those 4 strokes proved dearer. Thompson lost the tournament in a playoff.

 

Applauding the decision, she said, “I applaud the USGA and the R&A for their willingness to revise the Rules of Golf to address certain unfortunate situations that have arisen several times in the game of golf," Thompson wrote. "In my case, I am thankful no one else will have to deal with an outcome such as mine in the future.”

 

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