| Akron,
Ohio, 28th
August 1998 - Lee Janzen waited and waited and waited for his birdie
putt to tumble into the cup on the 17th green in Thursday's opening round of the
NEC World Series of Golf. He
waited so long that a television viewer called the tournament and turned him in
for a violation of Rule 16-2 of the Rules of Golf. Today,
the PGA Tour, made aware of the situation by viewers, disqualified the U.S. Open
champion for signing an incorrect scorecard because he failed to add a penalty
stroke for the delay. Janzen
was disqualified on his 34th birthday. "Strange
things happen on the course sometimes, and this was one of them,'' he said in
a statement before leaving Firestone Country Club. Janzen
hit his second shot on the 392-yard, par-4 17th hole to 7 feet. His birdie putt
stopped on the lip, with the ball hanging over the edge of the cup. Janzen
walked to the hole, then past it, bent down to survey the ball and stared at it
as it sat poised on the edge. He then looked back at playing partner Vijay Singh,
who also walked up and bent down to see what was keeping the ball out. After
at least 20 seconds, and just as Janzen took a step toward the hole to tap the
ball in, it dropped into the cup. The crowd roared and Janzen laughed. After
the next hole, Janzen signed his scorecard for a 78 that left him 43rd in the
44-player field. But he took a 3 on the 17th hole when he should have taken a
4 because of the penalty stroke, according to PGA Tour officials. Janzen did not
consult a rules official prior to signing his card. Even
with the disqualification, Janzen still will get the unofficial last-place money
of $18,475. The
anonymous TV viewer called the officials shortly before the telecast went off
the air at 6 p.m. Several other viewers also called, wondering if Janzen had broken
the rules. ESPN
timed Janzen at 27 seconds, while tour officials said they had "liberally''
estimated the time at 20 seconds. Rule
16-2 of the Rules of Golf stipulates that "when any part of the ball overhangs
the lip of the hole, the player is allowed enough time to reach the hole without
reasonable delay and an additional 10 seconds to determine whether the ball is
at rest.'' Janzen
said, "I had no intentions of breaking any rule.'' He
told tour officials he believed the ball was still moving. Players are not permitted
to strike a ball that is moving, which is covered under Rule 19. However, Rule
16-2 supersedes that rule. "After
10 seconds, the ball is considered at rest, whether it is or not,'' PGA Tour rules
official Mark Russell said. It
was not the first time that the rule has butt to fall. Watson ended up in a three-way
tie a shot back of champion Andy North. Tour
officials met with Janzen and his wife Beverly Friday morning. "He
was, first of all, saying, 'Guys, what'd I do wrong?' '' Russell said. "We
had called him in and he defended himself. At first he didn't think he did anything
wrong. Once he looked at the tape -- and we had a stopwatch -- he understood what
he did wrong.'' Russell
said he regretted that the tour didn't know about what happened on the 17th sooner.
"It's a
terrible situation,'' he said. "I wish we could have gotten to him before
he signed that scorecard.'' | 
