Gaffes Galore

What is it that we like about golf? It's not only the rhythm of Fred Couples's swing and the British Open at St. Andrews. It is also the way the game so often brings out our better selves. When things go wrong and strike everyone else as heartbreakingly unfair, golfers seem to take it better than other sportsmen. An almost surreal rash of gaffes emphatically proves the point.

At the Benson and Hedges International Open two weeks ago, Padraig Harrington failed to sign his scorecard after the first round. The error was not discovered until three days later, after Harrington had taken a five-stroke lead. Thereupon the most harmless violation on the books was paid for with golf's equivalent of the death penalty. Harrington was disqualified. What did he say? "I'm glad the problem came to light. I would have hated to find out in six months and know I hadn't won fair and square." Only in golf.

Three similarly disastrous incidents occurred last week. During the final round of the Firstar Classic in Beavercreek, Ohio, Karrie Webb was fighting for her fifth victory of the year when, after failing to escape a bunker on the 8th hole, she took another swing in anger and her wedge hit the sand, invoking the rule that penalizes a player two shots for grounding a club in a hazard. Webb took a triple-bogey 8 but rallied for a 30 on the back side, including a dramatic eagle from the fairway on the last hole. Had it not been for the penalty, Webb would have won by one. Instead, she fell a stroke short to Annika Sorenstam. "I knew [I would be penalized] right away," she said.

Meanwhile, at the NCAA Division III championships in Bat-tie Creek, Mich., Phil Gehring, a junior at Skidmore, signed for a 70 in the third round instead of the 71 he actually shot. Under the same rule that cost Jacqueline Pung the '57 U.S. Women's Open, Gehring was DQ'd. That meant that, in the play-five-count-four format, Skidmore had to replace his score with the team's fifth-best of the day, a 79. When the fourth round was rained out, the cost was clear: Gehring's 71 would have given his team the national championship. Instead, Skidmore finished third. What did coach Tim Brown say? "Hey, it's history. Everyone feels bad for Phil, but he'll be back next year."

Finally, at the NCAA Division I East Regional, North Carolina State senior Karl Pettersson cruised home with an apparent four-shot win, seemingly assuring the Wolfpack a spot in the May 31-June 3 national championships. For Pettersson, the moment was especially sweet because it would have been his first victory since transferring from Central Alabama, and he is very familiar with the Lake Course at the Grand National Golf Club in Opelika, Ala., where the championship tournament is to be played.

But as Pettersson was recounting his round, he suddenly realized that at the par-4 8th hole, his 17th of the day, he had made a 6, not the 5 that had been in his head when he putted out and signed his card. A check of the scorecard revealed that his scorer had also put down a 5. Because Pettersson had mistakenly attested to a 70 instead of a 71, his fate was sealed, and he was disqualified.

As a consequence, North Carolina State had to substitute an 81 and missed qualifying for the final by five strokes. "That was a dagger in the chest, but it happens in golf," says Richard Sykes, coach of the Wolfpack for 29 years. "To be honest, I'm glad the mistake was caught. It would have come up somehow, somewhere, and that would've been worse for Phil and everyone else. In golf you are responsible for your score and your character. Sometimes that can be harsh, but that's what I like about the game."

You're not alone, Coach.