I agree. I have seen the video and there's no way anyone could accuse this of being an intentional improvement of his lie. While I admit it would be subjective, I think intent needs to be considered by the rules officials and a penalty assessed, even if the scorecard has been signed.

The circumstances of a rules official coming to a player to advise them of a penalty seems unfair to me in the first place. If a player incurs a penalty on the first hole, the official probably has time to hear about it, review it, assess the penalty and advise the player between holes somewhere along the line. If the player's infraction occurs on the 18th hole, his card gets signed a lot sooner, probably before some caller gets through, before video can be reviewed, before the player can be consulted and a decision can be made.

You could also argue that the players who go out early have less chance of being caught because they are not on television. What if Johnny Miller didn't really shoot 63 to win the U.S. Open, but should have had some 2 stroke penalty that has never been called because nobody saw his round on television?  The people who are in contention are under more scrutiny and it is important for the correct person to win, BUT, it's also important for EVERY score to be correct. Things as unimportant as Fedex points or as important as standings to retain your card for the next year can be decided by margins as slim as, (obviously), one stroke.

I think any complaint must be filed before the player completes the round and signs his card..  Before a player signs his card, an official should notify him of any questioanable situations.  Absolutely no outside offociating from phone or twitter.  DQs only when a player is  knowingly cheating.   Stroke penalties for infractions.  Common sense.  

Deno

These "officials" on both tours want to prove that no player is bigger than their own  decisions on the "rules of golf".  When you see a decision made  because of a caller or tweeter, it shows me how much they are looking for a reason to assert their power under the guise of playing by the rules.

Deno

DQ was the result of an email this time...next up carrier pigeons

Deno

Yes this is getting out of hand.  The fairest way to deal with this is the 2 stroke penalty.   The auto DQ is a horrendous penalty when the infraction was not even noticed by the player, the other players in group, or the rules officials.

This may be splitting it down the middle;  The tournament was still on going and he was between rounds, so if an infraction occurred durning one round and reported before the start of the players next round then correct the players score by adding the penalty.  At the end of the tournament have a set period of time for any rules infraction reports to come in for the final round, after that time the results stand as called.  This allows for a chance to correct a signed card when there was an inadvertent rules infraction that would result in penalty strokes.

Other infractions that result in a DQ would still result in a DQ, as would any obvious intent or appearance of intent, in judgment of the head rules official, to cheat.  In Harrington's case it is obvious that there is no intent, so apply the penalty and adjust his score.  

I cant believe that some people would even bother to call or email or send a carrier pigeon(LOL). It really steams me that they are sitting at home nit-picking the players. People make honest mistakes and shouldnt be penalized at this cost. How many times have you seen a penalty away from the play in other sports that wasnt called. Something does have to change. Lets just hope it changes for the better and doesnt open it up for every monday morning rules official to chime in. Thats my 2 cents and it worth exactly that 2 cents.

I guess I have missed the 1-800 number to call in possible rules infractions.  I agree with Zookeeper, the great thing about golf is I don't think there are guys out on tour looking to cheat.  It is a honest mistake that shouldn't come into play after the round is completed.  If it happens on the course, is noticed and comes to the attention of the rules official, then by all means issue the appropriate penalty and move on.  I mean what happens if the tournament is over and someone notices a rules infraction, do you take away the trophy and money?  Hmmm, great topic. 

Agreed.  Let the rules officials do the officiating.  It's pretty ridiculous to lets fans call the game, but of course Paddy handled it with grace and class. 

I'm wonderin, if it had been 2 unheard of rookies DQ'd in the last 2 weeks, would you be saying the rules need to be changed, or they need to learn the rules?

It's pretty simple, don't move the ball, but in this case he could have replaced the ball without penalty. He simply wasn't paying attention. Paying attention is part of golf.

Harrington should have been paying attention and called the infraction on himself, if he would have done so, a 2 shot penalty is less severe than a DQ.  If the tours will allow fans from reporting rules infractions, imagine an NFL game where fans are allowed to call penalties that the refs missed.... 

Patrick

If Harrington had been paying attention, then all that would happen is he notify his playing partner or marker, then replace the ball, NO PENALTY.

Golf is not football or basketball and here is the biggest difference

In football and basketball you are taught to do whatever you can get away with, and even taught techniques to break the rules and not get caught.  In golf you are taught to play by the rules.