At the LPGA Tour’s Q-Series most of the headlines were dominated by an incident on Friday when Kendall Dye motioned to Dewi Weber’s caddie to ask what club her player had hit on a par 3.
The third member of the group, Christina Kim, noted the exchange and brought it to the players’ attention at the end of the round. It was the first Weber knew of anything and the two players were hit with two-shot penalties.
In the aftermath Kim, who would go on to secure her card, went on Twitter with a collection of cryptic messages. Weber went to pieces and shot 82 the next day, while Dye also missed out.
So was the three-time Solheim Cup player right in bringing this to light on social media?
‘Raising the importance of the Rules of Golf is a good thing’
Christina Kim was absolutely right. We are always crying out for transparency from sports stars. Just look at how grateful we are Brooks Koepka has started speaking his mind, so I don’t see an issue, writes Joe Hughes.
She has 65,000 followers and it seems to me she is raising the importance of the Rules of Golf on a great scale.
She has been open and honest and her decision not to name any player or specific incident says her intentions were genuinely good and, in her mind, would benefit the game.
I agree with that thinking and the criticism she has received is undeserved.
I like to see players speak on social media about what happens on tour. It helps the fans feel closer to the game, so Kim was spot on revealing what went on.
Her latest tweet appears to suggest she raised the awareness she hoped – so clearly this was a good decision.
‘Kim posting something so vague was never going to go away’
The problem with the rules is that when someone gets a penalty we immediately like to label anyone a cheat. We see the headline, most people don’t read the story, and someone gets stuck with something, writes Mark Townsend.
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The actual breaking of this rule was a shambles. Even at club level we all know not to ask, instead craning our necks to see what club came out of the bag.
The problem with all this is that Kim posting something particularly vague was never going to go away. Slowly it emerged what she was talking about and the Chinese whispers could get underway.
Do we want everyone to improve their basic understanding of the rules or would we rather let the players get on with their business in a huge week for them where they are playing for their privileges?
Given how this played out I’d go with the latter. It was always going to blow up and people get things wrong on Twitter too much and too often. On this occasion I would say Kim got it wrong in her timing. This one could have waited a few days.
