There’s a bit of a contretemps in the golf world over the fact Jordan Spieth was disqualified for signing a wrong scorecard after the second round of the Genesis Invitational. Spieth takes full responsibility for the mistake but the question being raised is should players be required to sign their scorecards at all and is the penalty too harsh?

It’s an interesting question because for a number of reasons and I think there are good arguments for all points of view. Let’s get into it.

Why is it a Rule?

The reason it’s important for a player to sign her or his scorecard stems from a time in golf when only the player herself or himself really knew the total strokes taken in the round. Back then we didn’t have cameras and automatic scoring applications to take care of everything. It came down to a matter of personal integrity. If a player wanted to cheat, the opportunity to do so was readily available. That is not the case anymore.

The argument goes: if scoring is largely automated now, why does the player even have to keep score? Even if there is a mistake, it will be readily fixed almost immediately. In addition, there is the harshness of the penalty for a wrong scorecard, disqualification. Well, it’s disqualification if the player signs for a lower score that actually achieved. If the score is higher then the larger value is entered for the round but that’s another matter and I don’t want to muddy the conversation too much.

What do I think about a Wrong Scorecard?

As a former golfer, I gave up the sport because it caused me way too much anxiety, my kneejerk reaction is the rule is a good one. It’s a tradition, it’s about integrity, but it’s also about the simple process of checking your work. In any sort of a test, you make sure you’ve written down the answer you wanted to and didn’t make some sort of a mistake. If you did so, the wrong answer is your final answer. You can’t take it back.

I cannot deny the other side of the equation has its merits. There is really almost no way for a top-tier professional golfer to cheat by putting in a lower score. Now, it can certainly happen at smaller, local events where nothing is televised or automated. The rule should serve a purpose and at the highest levels of golf, it doesn’t really do anything to ensure a correct score is applied.

On the other hand, bear with me because I’m going back and forth on this one, it’s a toughie. On the other hand, people can cheat at lower levels of the game so you’d have to keep the rule in place there. Then you’d have to decide at what level the rule is waived, what tournaments, etc. That’s an entirely new can of worms.

Still, disqualification for an honest mistake that resulted in no harm seems a bit harsh.

Of course, the professionals should be role-models for everyone else, juniors particularly. The fact that Spieth has to sign his card, and make sure it’s correct does serve some purpose.

Finally, I don’t see that the situation really needs to be fixed. It’s not like players are getting disqualified for signing a wrong scorecard every week. It’s an incredibly rare occurrence, largely because the players are in the lifelong habit of reviewing their card and signing it after doing so.

Conclusion

My final conclusion is the rule still serves as purpose and should remain on the books. I do understand the frustration of those at the Genesis Invitational who are fans of Spieth and wanted to see him play over the weekend. Perhaps the penalty might be changed to two strokes for each instance of under-reporting a score.

What do you think?

Tom Liberman