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Just saw where David Toms DQ'd himself because his ball may have moved while he was putting yesterday, but he didn't put the penalty on his score card. Long trip for nothing...

From what was reported, Toms came to this "revelation" while eating dinner. I guess that +2 first round didn't taste so good.

league, there might be something to that. I mean, not to call DT a coward, but he's always been the type to admit defeat to Tiger instead of insisting on "never give up" like Vijay and Ernie have been known to do even when Tiger is blowing them out. Do you think it's possible that DT was a bit discouraged and decided to essentially quit knowing that Tiger would probably win it after his start and being 8 back makes it quite difficult to come back on him?

I would say that's probably not very likely. DT is a stand up guy and it's good to hear that he did the right thing. +2 wasn't out of it so it's not like he had no chance to do anything this week.

I agree that it wasn't out of it, but maybe DT thought it was? I don't know, but I feel bad for him b/c like you said he's a standup guy.

No, if he thinks that he's out of it being 8 shots back after the first round, he's in the wrong sport. I don't care if Superman is out there leading, you go back out there and give it a shot, especially given the cash at stake there. He did the right thing and I guess the reasoning behind it shouldn't make a difference...but you have to wonder who would have done the same if they were 1 back of the lead instead of 1 off the cut line at the time?

...could they not have referred to a TV camera close up?

If no one else saw it and he "thinks he hit a moving balls", how hard would it be to go to the TV truck and say, could you show us a close up of his ball and the tap in? ....strange.

"Toms DQ'd after rules violation
Acknowledges infringement prior to second round"


"That would carry an automatic two-shot penalty," said a Royal and Ancient spokesman. "So he was disqualified for signing for an incorrect score. I don't think anybody else noticed -- he called it on himself."

"It was just one of those iffy areas about whether or not a rule was violated and I was the only one that saw it," Toms told reporters.

"I might have hit a moving ball when I went to tap-in and I just felt it was better that I disqualified myself.

Dear David,

You would have been saved the effort of DQing yourself much earlier, but I couldn't find a phone number for the R&A.

Love,
The guy who sits in front of the TV with the rule book in one hand and the PGA Tour on speed dial on the other



And I don't know much about David Toms, but I don't think this has to be a "Tiger Envy" thing. While I think it's kinda crummy that a golfer has to own up to stuff like this and result in a DQ, it is the rules. After all, a ball that rolls even a millimeter at a US Open might end up three fairways down before its done. But especially with a British Open. Not that he was "playing for second" or anything, but even if he *was* conceding anything to the Almighty One, +2 wasn't that far out of second place, and all the spoils that go with it. (Or even top 10 or so.)

So you're saying that Toms cheated and his conscience got the better of him after he left the course? The "out of it" theory is much more believable than insinuating that he cheated. :nodsmiley

Had David Toms came back and made a decent run at the top, he might have had to deal with something like the stick Monty got for doing something similar in the Indonesian Open a few months back?

Had one fan seen it, especially with the media. There would have been an outcry and the TV companies would have been looking at it with a toothpick to see whether the ball did move. I don't think he wanted the extra attention that could possibly lead to, especially with a new baby.

Fair play to Toms, good to see there's some honest people in the game.

Highly unlikely given the repercussions and damage Toms knows "cheating" (especially in a Major when the entire golf world is watching) would do to his career. If there was even a hint of impropriety in Toms' past I might tend to agree with you, but there's not and I don't. His entire career is built on honesty and integrity and calling him a cheater, even one with a conscience, is more than a harsh judgement.

I certainly don't think he would intentionally cheat & no-one can say something that was unconsciously done, as a deliberate act cheating.

As for his reasons for owning up to the possibility that the ball might have been in motion when it was played, we can only speculate.And to be honest we shouldn't speculate in that way. We could do, & the media has done so, but we shouldn't really.

The is no way DT is a cheater.....however I think since he has been playing well this year and floped in round 1 at the open it was an easy out for him to DQ himself...and if not..... that is what it looked like.