golfrewind.com

Got the gist of what happened, but what exactly is everyone so in an uproar about?
Was it intentional? Is it really cheating?

"When play was suspended by lightning on Fri during the tournament, Montgomerie's ball was in a poor lie on the edge of a fairway bunker on the 14th hole. He failed to mark his ball and when he returned the next day it was missing, so he placed another as close as he could to the original spot. Some witnesses complained, but Indonesian Open officials investigated and cleared Monty of any wrongdoing. But after reviewing tapes of the incident two weeks ago, Monty donated his winnings to charity."

Last week, he had to meet w/the European Tour's tournament committee to explain it all again and they came away "dissatisfied".

What am I missing?

For once.....everyone IS out to get Monty!

I stole that line! .....but it's still funny!

I wonder if our old friend I/O was present to see it.....after all, as a past champ I'd assume they'd let him in still.

At best , a seasoned pro was negligent, at worst , he cheated. Marking a ball when the rain comes is not rocket science. I think the fact that his fellow pros are riding him so hard shows that they are determined to protect the game's integrity , and that he is not universally liked on the tour. People may respect his ability, but not his approach. While many Europeans get upset at his treatment by USA fans, it does not mean they like him either.

LOL

Rules is rules, there should really have been a referee right there to supervise the marking of every ball. I suspect Monty was doing what every single guy out there does, trying to turn a moment of indecision on the part of the powers that be to his own advantage.

Seve, Langer, Olly, Nick, Woosie, they have all done it before on that tour. the difference is they did it when they were top dog and the tour was terrified they would hop over the water to ply their trade there and leave us europeans watching the likes of Philip Walton, Paul Way and Roger Chapman to name but 3 (no offense intended). Monty unfortunately, and quite despicably considering his loyalty to the tour, is no longer the big name he was so he's now fair game in the same way as Miguel Angel Martin (a proven cheat) finds himself (and yes I know that Monty's loyalty was mostly founded on the 'big fish in a small pond' principle just in case anyone mentions it)

It's the same situation with Vijay, but since hes number one or two these days there will be no real referejnce to it until he is no longer putting bums in bleachers.

D.

Ok, but I still am missing something...
Did he improve his lie that much when he replaced it?
How in the world could anyone tell what would or could have been?

Yea thats what I thought, he still had to play the shot, its not like lifting it from the bunker and placing it on the fairway or taking a shot off at the marking stage. But as I said, rules is rules regardless of wether or not they are flawed in certain circumstances.

D.

Hmmph...lucky the PGA doesn't use NBA officials......
smile.

Monty was hitting more criticism in the papers today, the players are giving him a hard time.

Mrs Doubtfire is just as popular here.

That Valdarma incident made me think he cheated. One golfer that would not do what he did was Tom Kite when he counted an extra shot in an event over 25 years ago and missed the playoff by a shot. No one else saw the missed shot excpet for Kite. I believe this was the 1978 Hall of Fame Classic in Pinehurst.