European Tour pros have quickly come to the aid of fellow professional Haotong Li after the Chinese star was penalised for breaking one of golf’s new rules.
The 2018 Dubai Desert Classic winner was set to finish third in his title defence, but was found to have breached the rule which says players are not allowed to be lined up for a shot.
Rule 10.2.B states:
A player may have his or her line of play pointed out by
- Having his or her caddie or any other person stand on or close to the player’s line of play to show where it is, but that person must move away before the stroke is made.
The incident:
@EuropeanTour this is a marginal interpretation of the new Rule 10.2b @haotong_li good playing. pic.twitter.com/jNxT0aokxj
— Brian McKinley (@brijon5555) January 27, 2019
In this instance, a putt on the last hole cost him around €100,000 as he fell to 12th place.
How his colleagues responded:
Matt Wallace: ‘Ridiculous to say that’s alignment. Sorry.’
Eddie Pepperell: ‘Hard to believe @haotong_li has been penalised for this. Frankly, I think it’s a shockingly bad decision and for the life of me I cannot see how Mike has lined Haotong up here.’
Pablo Larrazabal: ‘After 2 weeks of golf in the @EuropeanTour, I take one thing is clear… the @RandA and @usga have to check those new 2019 golf rules… my Chinese brother @haotong_li didnt deserve that penalty on the 72nd… the line is too thin…’
Ross Fisher: ‘What happened to you and Mike was a disgrace bud. Shouldn’t have happened. Chin up.’
Fooch (Justin Rose’s caddie): ‘Just watched @haotong_li and the 2 shot penalty … total farce … has made the game look stupid.’
Richard Bland: ‘I hope John Paramor from @EuropeanTour comes out publicly and explains the ludicrous decision to penalise @haotong_li yesterday. Clearly the caddie has not lined him up! So where is the breach of rules! Some of the these rule changes are making a farce of this great game.’
William McGirt: ‘I’d have to call BS on the @haotong_li penalty today. He wasn’t even set to make a practice stroke, much less an actual stroke at the ball. @USGA & @RandA get it wrong again. #killingthegame’
