Monday, November 24, 2008

Integrity

By: Glen Schneiders, Lead Pastor of Crossroads Christian Church in Lexington, KY

J.P. Hayes says anyone else on the PGA Tour in his situation "would have done the same thing." During the second stage of the PGA Tour qualifying tournament last week in Texas, Hayes discovered that on two shots on one hole, he had unwittingly used a prototype golf ball not approved for competition by the United States Golf Association.

No one would have known. And a full-time spot on the PGA Tour in 2009 was on the line. But Hayes, honoring the tradition of a game where the players police themselves, turned himself in and was disqualified.

"It's extremely disappointing," Hayes said, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "I keep thinking I'm going to wake up and this is going to be a bad nightmare."

On his 12th hole of the first round, Hayes' caddie reached into his golf bag and tossed a ball to Hayes, who played two shots -- a tee and a chip onto the green -- and marked his ball. At that point he realized the ball he was playing was not the same model with which he started the round -- by rule, a two-stroke penalty. "I realized there was a penalty and I called an official over," Hayes said, according to the newspaper. "He said the penalty was two shots and that I had to finish the hole with that ball and then change back to the original ball."

Hayes shot a 74 Wednesday and a 71 on Thursday, putting him in good shape to finish in the top 20 and advance to the final qualifying stage in December.

But on Thursday night in his hotel room, Hayes realized that the errant golf ball might not have been on the approved list.

"It was a Titleist prototype, and somehow it had gotten into my bag," he said, according to the Journal Sentinel. "I have no idea how or why it was still in there."

Hayes had a choice: He could have said nothing and kept playing, with no one aware of his mistake. Or he could turn himself in and let his mistake cost him a 2009 PGA Tour card.

He chose the latter.

"I called an official in Houston that night and said, 'I think I may have a problem,'" Hayes said. "He said they'd call Titleist the next day. I pretty much knew at that point I was going to be disqualified."

As for his decision to turn himself in? "I would say everybody out here [on the PGA Tour] would have done the same thing," Hayes said, according to the report.

Hayes also refused to blame his caddie for the error, saying he should have spotted the errant ball because it did not have a model name on the seam.

Proverbs 20:7 (God’s Word Translation) “A righteous person lives on the basis of his integrity. Blessed are his children after he is gone.”