Webb Simpson: Surprised PGA Tour doesn't have its own rulebook
PGA Tour

Webb Simpson: Surprised PGA Tour doesn’t have its own rulebook

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Webb Simpson is a proud USGA champion, the 2012 U.S. Open winner. However, he doesn't believe the PGA Tour should be governed week-to-week by their version of the Rules of Golf.

"I don't think we should be governed by an amateur organization," Simpson said in a telephone interview last week. "I love the USGA, and I know a lot of people that run the organization. They do a great job and what they do and put on arguably the greatest golf tournament in the world in the U.S. Open. But, we're the only sport that I know of that's governed by an amateur organization.

"I think there's a disconnect, where they have power where they shouldn't have power."

Simpson said he isn't alone in thinking that there are "three or four rules" that just don't make sense for the pro game.

"It's the rules that we're still getting penalized under that 150 guys on our PGA Tour and our rules staff of 18 think needs be changed, but aren't changed," he said. "We shouldn't have to abide by a rule...when it's not, in my opinion, a just rule."

The 2014 Ryder Cup team member doesn't think many guys are bothered by the pending ban of the anchored putting stroke, but look more at ticky-tack rules like what happened to David Frost on the Champions Tour. At the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic, Frost, the eventual winner, was penalized when he accidentally dropped his ball on his marker on the green, moving it slightly.

"You're telling me if I drop my coin on my ball, it's not a penalty, but if I drop my ball on my coin that it is a penalty? It just doesn't make sense," Simpson said.

When he was a member of the PGA Tour's Player Advisory Council, Simpson made a push for the Tour to consider adopting its own version of those rules that universally peeve his peers. He hopes that the Tour will take up the topic sooner than later.

Simpson said, "I wish the Tour honestly would do a better job of making that a priority and doing something about it."

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Ryan Ballengee

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