Harrington's long-term victory

Padraig Harrington has been accorded a glowing tribute by the Royal and Ancient, who framed the rule which caused him heartbreak…

Padraig Harrington has been accorded a glowing tribute by the Royal and Ancient, who framed the rule which caused him heartbreak at the Belfry last weekend. The game's legislators at St Andrews expressed considerable admiration for the dignity and sportsmanship of the Dubliner, in the wake of his disqualification from the Benson and Hedges International.

"We've talked about the matter here since Sunday and I don't think it would be inaccurate to say that everybody was incredibly impressed," said Grant Moir, of the Rules of Golf committee. "I don't think he can be praised highly enough for the way he handled what must have been a very difficult situation. He has come out of it with great credit.

"It was particularly admirable that he did not attempt to ascribe blame to anybody else," Moir added. "The fact that he said it (countersigning his scorecard) is something he has been doing since he was 12 years old and that he knew the rules. And that unfortunately he got it wrong.

"For it to happen in such a circumstance, when he was five strokes in the lead, heightened the misfortune, as far as he was concerned. I don't think he could have handled himself any better. That's a personal view, but one that I know is shared by my colleagues."

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He added: "It's always nice to see a professional react in that way. Through his conduct, he has won himself more admirers than he could ever have done through winning a golf competition."

According to Moir, the rule covering the countersigning of a scorecard by the player was introduced in 1949. Prior to that, a marker's signature was considered sufficient. Could the rule not be modified by the European Tour, to avert similar grief to another player in the future? "To modify would be to change, and as long as the Tour wish to play by the rules of golf, that wouldn't be possible." And what of equity? "That applies only to a situation which is not covered by the rules."

But what of the fact that, had the discovery of the unsigned card been made on Monday rather than Sunday, Harrington would effectively have been home free? Moir replied: "As Padraig said himself, he wouldn't have thought it a desirable situation that he had won a tournament after failing to sign his card."

The R and A official concluded: "It is a principle of the rules that there has to be a cut-off point after which no change is made to the result. Otherwise it would not be possible to say with certainty that the winner was the winner. That's why we don't apply penalties retrospectively."

"I don't trust doctors. They are like golfers. Every one has a different answer to your problem."

- Seve Ballesteros.

Eamonn Darcy has had seven holes in one on the European Tour, whereas Darren Clarke has had none and Seve Ballesteros has had only one. And Des Smyth, Nick Faldo and Miguel-Angel Jimenez have had four each, while the three aces from Paul McGinley include one at Royal Lytham's ninth during the 1996 British Open.

All of this is pretty small beer, however, compared with the achievement of Mike Hilyer. Mike who? I know, he's a golfing nobody - except for the fact that his nine holes in one have all been achieved on par-fours, ranging in length from 304 to 361 yards. This phenomenal achievement is partially explained by the fact that 48-year-old Hilyer, from Orange Beach, Alabama, happens to stand 6ft 5in and weighs 17st 2lb. But no matter what a player's dimensions, the odds against a hole-in-one on a par three have been calculated at 12,600 to 1. And you can add a lot more zeros for a par four.

"I think it's crazy, nothing more than luck," admits the giant ball-crusher. During a three-month period in 1995, he had three aces, two of them only five days apart. After his seventh, in July 1996, the National Hole-in-One Association in the US presented him with a ring to mark his then record, seven par-four aces. And he has had two more since then.

Tired of all the publicity, Hilyer insisted recently: "I hope I don't have another one on a par four. It's ridiculous." But what about an ace at a par three? "That would tickle the hell out of me," he replied.

The pedantic schoolteacher was taking his first golf lesson. "Is the word spelled `put' or `putt'?" he asked the instructor. " `Putt' is the correct spelling," came the reply. " `Put' means to place a thing where you want it. `Putt' means merely a vain attempt at doing the same thing."

It is widely acknowledged that Tiger Woods has matured into a very pleasant young man with an admirably caring disposition. The point was emphasised earlier this week in a tele-conference in which he was linked to Valhalla GC, where he will be defending the USPGA Championship next August.

Asked about his work with underprivileged, inner-city children, he said: "It's something I love to do. I've given my time to hospitals, especially to young cancer patients, and I find that I like to hang around them, play games, joke and generally try to put a smile on their faces."

The world number one went on: "On a recent visit to Oklahoma City, we played army commandos. I do these things to help them feel more at ease, like they are loved. We must remember that, a lot of the time, kids grow up without any love in their lives; no support. That's not easy to go through. I was very lucky to have a lot of love and support from my family, and to give that back is not something you can quantify. It is something I will continue to do until the day I die.

"Golf is merely a vehicle which helps me help these kids. If I perform well, it means I have a more viable platform from which to speak to them. I think they look at you in a different light, with more respect. Kids can see right through people who are fake. They're innocent, but they know what's right in their hearts. And if you tell them the truth, you'll notice that kids will respond a lot quicker than if you put up a facade."

With that sort of attitude, young Mr Woods is unlikely to go far wrong.

Casey Martin will be permitted to use a golf buggy, should he qualify for this year's British Open at St Andrews. But Peter Dawson, secretary of the Royal and Ancient, emphasised: "We're not introducing a buggy policy."

Dawson added that the 27-year-old American, who suffers from a birth defect known as Klippel-Trenaunay-Webber Syndrome in his right leg, would be required to have his bag carried by a caddie. And as for letting other players use buggies: this would be considered on a case-by-case basis. Either way, the situation is unlikely to arise, given that Martin has no immediate plans to try to qualify.

This day in golf history . . . On May 20th, 1979, Nancy Lopez won the Coca-Cola Classic in a five-way play-off against Bonnie Bryant, Hollis Stacy, Mickey Wright and Jo Ann Washam. Lopez ended the year as the LPGA's leading money-winner with $197,488; she also took the Vare Trophy with a scoring average of 71.20 and was the LPGA Player of the Year.

Teaser: Here's a topical one, though not quite the same as at the Belfry. In a 36-hole strokeplay competition in one day over two courses, a competitor returned his first-round scorecard to the committee but he failed to countersign it. After the second round, the committee informed him that he was disqualified. The competitor blamed the committee for the error. He said the committee, in attempting to get him to leave promptly for the course on which the second round was being played, caused him to return the first-round card hurriedly and that he had been given insufficient time to check and countersign the card. The competitor requested the committee to waive the penalty under Rule 33-7 (Administration: the committee). Would the committee be justified in doing so?

Answer: No. If the competitor did not feel he was given sufficient time to check and sign his first-round card, he should have protested before he returned the card.