{"id":7585,"date":"2018-03-26T17:33:36","date_gmt":"2018-03-26T21:33:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/fore-how-crowdsourced-rulings-failed-the-pga-tour\/"},"modified":"2018-03-26T17:33:36","modified_gmt":"2018-03-26T21:33:36","slug":"fore-how-crowdsourced-rulings-failed-the-pga-tour","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/fore-how-crowdsourced-rulings-failed-the-pga-tour\/","title":{"rendered":"FORE! How Crowdsourced Rulings Failed the PGA Tour"},"content":{"rendered":"

Golf is unique in many ways, but one notable way has been the ability for viewers at home to call-in to each week\u2019s tournament to identify rules violations they observed while watching on TV. Since at least 1987, when a player\u2019s use of a towel to prevent his knees from getting dirty while playing a kneeling shot was identified to be a violation by an at-home viewer, the PGA Tour has been helped \u2013 and haunted \u2013 by crowdsourced rulings. But the most notable crowdsourced ruling, and the cause for much consternation about the role of the fan in judgment in sport, came in 2013 \u2013 to golf\u2019s most famous player, Tiger Woods, at its most famous event, The Masters.<\/p>\n

The Tale of Tiger \u2013 and Lexi<\/strong><\/p>\n

Near the lead on the second day of the four day Masters tournament, Tiger Woods hit a brilliant shot on the 15th<\/sup> hole. Unfortunately, the shot was too good \u2013 it hit the flag stick (roughly 1 inch in diameter) and caromed back into the water in front of the green. As rule 26 \u2013 1 \u2013 a states, one of Tiger\u2019s options was to drop as near to the spot where he hit the original shot as possible. However, not wanting to hit the flag stick again, Tiger hit his next shot from 4 feet further back. A former PGA Tour rules official, watching on TV, called in the violation, which ultimately cost Tiger two shots \u2013 a penalty which was assessed the next day. Although he remained in contention, Tiger did not win that major, and hasn\u2019t won another major since.[i]<\/a><\/p>\n

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A similar, but more egregious, event happened on the LPGA Tour in 2017. At one of the most important tournaments of the year, Lexi Thompson improperly moved her ball roughly 2 centimeters before putting and was assessed a four-stroke penalty on the next day of the tournament. This penalty dropped her out of the lead, and she ultimately lost a tournament she would have won easily if not for a single viewer\u2019s e-mail.[ii]<\/a> When the rules official approached her to tell her the news, she reasonably asked \u201cis this a joke?\u201d<\/p>\n

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The PGA Tour Responds<\/strong><\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until April 2017 \u2013 four years after Tiger\u2019s ruling, and days after Thompson\u2019s \u2013 that the United States Golf Association (USGA) responded. Lead rules officials stated that they had no plans to make changes to the ability for viewers to call-in, as those calls added to the accuracy of the rulings. Officials stated they get roughly one call per week, and 90-95% of them are meaningless and duplicate reviews that the officials at the tournament are already doing.[iii]<\/a> Players were furious, with Tiger tweeting that \u201cviewers at home should not be officials\u201d.<\/p>\n

In the months since, the crescendo of frustrated voices continued to rise, and the PGA Tour eventually walked back its comments. Beginning in 2019, viewers will no longer be able to call-in and affect rulings, and instead the Tour will have an official dedicated to reviewing broadcast footage for errors. Specifically, the Tour will:<\/p>\n