Post by HappyFan on Nov 6, 2023 6:45:29 GMT
There has been a lot of controversy and discussion on Korean websites concerning Yu Jin Sung's win at the S-OIL today.
To recap: Sung managed, in part thanks to a hole out for eagle, to carve out a one-shot lead at the end of the third round. On day four, she very quickly bombed out, and fell seven shots behind the leader, a complete afterthought. But then the rains hit and wouldn't stop, and eventually the KLPGA scrubbed the round, handing Sung the win thanks to her third round lead. Jae Hee Kim, who had led much of Saturday before Sung's rally/hole out, and almost all of Sunday, became the runner up.
We have seen these kind of things before, and it seems like a pretty common way to settle an event when the weather intervenes, but this, to put it mildly, feels like a more extreme rip off than usual. Imagine if the event had reached the 18th hole when the rains had come; would it still seem fair to have thrown out all that golf and give the win to Sung? What if Kim had finished her round as the leader, but other players had not and so the round was not officially over? Throw it out then? The current rules say yes.
I realize this might be a general rule in golf and that perhaps the KLPGA can't do anything about it. The fans, many of whom are unfairly taking it out on Sung (it's not her fault the rules suck), have suggested an alternative rule that I think makes sense. If the tournament cannot be finished, consider the final score based on what everyone had when they reached the final hole that the final group was able to finish. So, if the final group had finished the 10th hole before play was called, look at every player's score as of that hole, and the best one wins.
What do you think? Live with the imperfect current rule? Go with something like the above modification? Or is there another way to fix it?
To recap: Sung managed, in part thanks to a hole out for eagle, to carve out a one-shot lead at the end of the third round. On day four, she very quickly bombed out, and fell seven shots behind the leader, a complete afterthought. But then the rains hit and wouldn't stop, and eventually the KLPGA scrubbed the round, handing Sung the win thanks to her third round lead. Jae Hee Kim, who had led much of Saturday before Sung's rally/hole out, and almost all of Sunday, became the runner up.
We have seen these kind of things before, and it seems like a pretty common way to settle an event when the weather intervenes, but this, to put it mildly, feels like a more extreme rip off than usual. Imagine if the event had reached the 18th hole when the rains had come; would it still seem fair to have thrown out all that golf and give the win to Sung? What if Kim had finished her round as the leader, but other players had not and so the round was not officially over? Throw it out then? The current rules say yes.
I realize this might be a general rule in golf and that perhaps the KLPGA can't do anything about it. The fans, many of whom are unfairly taking it out on Sung (it's not her fault the rules suck), have suggested an alternative rule that I think makes sense. If the tournament cannot be finished, consider the final score based on what everyone had when they reached the final hole that the final group was able to finish. So, if the final group had finished the 10th hole before play was called, look at every player's score as of that hole, and the best one wins.
What do you think? Live with the imperfect current rule? Go with something like the above modification? Or is there another way to fix it?