Honest to goodness

I have a new favorite golfer.

OK — let me reword that: I have a favorite golfer.

That would be J.P. Hayes, who, during a PGA qualifying tournament last week, called a penalty on himself for playing the wrong ball. In a sport with a long and illustrious honor code, that’s not that surprising. What happened next is.

Two days later, after realizing the ball he accidentally played on two shots was a non-regulation prototype, he informed the PGA of that violation, whereupon the association disqualified him — meaning he won’t qualify for the 2009 PGA Tour.

Even better — almost — is what he said about it.

Anyone else on the PGA Tour in his situation "would have done the same thing," he claimed.

Quite a contrast with, say, NASCAR, whose code is said to be, “If you ain’t cheatin’, you ain’t competin’. ”

Now, this year the 43-year-old golfer made $312,000 despite having his worst season ever. So don’t cry for Hayes. He won’t.

"It's not the end of the world. It will be fine. It is fine."


http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=3712372