Sports

No good reason for Woods to withdraw from the Masters after drop controversy

DROPPING THE BALL? Tiger Woods, in action during yesterday’s third round, was right to continue to play after being penalized two strokes, writes The Post’s George Willis, but Mark Cannizzaro believes Woods should have walked away. (
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AUGUSTA, Ga. — When Tiger Woods stepped to the first tee at 1:45 p.m. yesterday at Augusta National, you never would have known he was at the center of one of the biggest controversies in the 77-year history of the Masters.

The fans applauded him when the greeter announced “Tiger Woods now driving.”

They clapped loudly when he piped his 3-wood down the center of the first fairway and made birdie. He would go on to shoot a 2-under par 70 to climb to 3-under for the tournament heading into today’s final round. He’s four shots back of co-leaders Brandt Snedeker and Angel Cabrera with a chance to win his 15th major and fifth Green Jacket.

“I’m right there in the ballgame,” Woods would say.

MASTERS LEADERBOARD

Yet, there were a few voices who didn’t want him in the ballgame at all after Woods admitted earlier in the day he made an improper drop at the 15th hole on Friday. Former and current Tour players such as Nick Faldo and David Duval tweeted Woods should withdraw from the Masters to protect the integrity of golf. Hogwash. There was no reason for Woods to pull himself out of the major championship. In fact, it was more important to the sport he continued to play.

I’ll offer three reasons:

The Masters Competition Committee blew it. Not Woods.

It matters little at this point whether Woods knew he was breaking Rule 26-1 by dropping his ball away from its original spot after hitting the pin and having his initial ball roll back into the water at the par-5 15th on Friday. What is important is after a television viewer called to question the drop, the competition committee reviewed video and decided Woods had “proceeded appropriately and therefore would not be assessed a penalty.”

Woods wasn’t questioned before signing his scorecard. In fact, he wasn’t questioned until yesterday morning when he was called in after competition committee chairman Fred Ridley was alerted to Woods’ post-round interview on ESPN in which he freely discussed dropping his ball away from its original spot.

Clearly, Woods should have been questioned about the drop before he signed his card. He would have been assessed a two-stroke penalty and the firestorm would have been averted.

COLUMN: TIGER CAN’T REALLY WIN BY STAYING IN

Secondly, athletes should never be put in a position to decide whether they should withdraw from an event for anything other than injury. If Woods voluntarily withdrew from competition, TV ratings for the weekend would have plummeted. His sponsors would have lost exposure.

His quest for a 15th major championship and first since 2008 would have ended. Why should Woods be asked to give that up when Ridley said yesterday, “It would be grossly unfair to disqualify him after the committee made its decision,” after Friday’s round.

Finally, call it a loophole but Rule 33-7 was put in place in 2012 to protect players from viewers who call in thinking a player violated a rule.

“We get dozen of these calls every Masters,” Ridley said.

Before the rule, players were disqualified for signing a scorecard they and rules officials didn’t know was incorrect. It’s one thing to address something while on the course. It’s another to be DQ’d because some viewer saw something after play had been completed.

By the time Ridley met with Woods yesterday morning, “it was either no penalty or a two-shot penalty, but disqualification this morning was not even on the table,” Ridley said.

In the end, Woods did more for golf by playing than withdrawing. Rules officials will be sure to consult with players should there be any question about possible infractions; players also will be protected from the second-guessers watching on television, and they won’t have to bear the pressure of deciding whether they should play or should not play when officials conducting the event say they can.

Blame the competition committee for this mess. Not Tiger.

george.willis@nypost.com