Rules Of Engagement

SLUGGER WHITE on never being late for work in 38 years, knowing when to say, ‘I’m sorry,’ and the pain of discovering a 15th club WITH GUY YOCOM

WHEN I’M CALLED IN TO HELP with a ruling, I try to keep it impersonal. There’s no face on a golf ball, right? But you can’t help but feel some humanity. At Las Vegas in 2005, Kevin Stadler started the third round near the top of the leader board. It was near the end of the season, and he was in danger of losing his card. He desperately needed a good finish. On the first hole, I was sitting behind the green when Kevin approached me and showed me one of his sand wedges, which clearly was bent. It was nonconforming. Kevin had no idea where it had happened—could have been while he was warming up—but he started the round with it like that, and there just was nothing to do but issue a DQ. Kevin was in tears, and next thing you know, I was in tears with him, knowing his platform to earn a living was seriously in jeopardy. For maybe the first time in my career, I said, “I’m sorry.”

THE MOST IMPRESSIVE player on tour, rules-wise, is Justin Thomas. Charles Howell is excellent, but Justin is incredible, especially for one so young. He’s a rules fanatic, constantly approaching me with questions and hypotheticals. At the CJ Cup in South Korea in 2017, Justin was in a playoff with Marc Leishman. As we’re walking down the fairway, Justin calls me over and starts bombarding me with rules questions. He wasn’t in a rules situation, he just wanted to chat up the rules in that “What if you whiff a wrong ball?” kind of way. I couldn’t believe it. He’s playing for almost $1.7 million first prize and his fifth victory of the year, and he wants to talk shop. He won the playoff.

BY THE WAY, the penalty for whiffing a wrong ball is two strokes. You don’t count the swing you missed the ball with, you just add two. What happens if you whiff again on your second try? No further penalty. I see a tender mercy there.