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In yet another golf rule absurdity, Alex Cejka ejected for wrong yardage book

Alex Cejka, shown here in 2018, got the heave-ho from a tournament after using an old yardage book. (AP)
Alex Cejka, shown here in 2018, got the heave-ho from a tournament after using an old yardage book. (AP)

Imagine an NBA player getting ejected from a game just for traveling, an NFL player thrown out of the game for an offsides penalty. Ridiculous, right? And yet, that’s exactly the kind of judicial overreach that still consumes golf, even after attempts to streamline its absurdly punitive rules structure.

The latest in rules silliness comes to us from the Honda Classic in Florida, where Alex Cejka got the boot for the crime of using “greens-reading materials that did not fit the new scale allowed,” according to a PGA Tour official.

"It was brought to the committee's attention that Alex might possibly be using some old greens reading materials, and so we were obligated to check that out," rules official Robby Ware said, according to USA Today, and man, is “brought to the committee’s attention” doing some heavy lifting there. "Alex was basically using an old yardage book and old greens reading materials that did not fit the size to scale limit."

Images of greens are now limited to a scale of 3/8 inch to 5 yards, and Cejka was apparently using an older yardage book that didn’t conform to those standards. He was approached at the 14th hole and took a cart away from the course before the 15th.

As with so much in golf, the rule isn’t the problem. It’s an appropriate rule. But the enforcement of the rule is the issue. The punishment is so out of proportion to the violation, it’d be like losing your car for going five miles an hour over the speed limit.

Cejka’s DQ marks the latest in a series of awkward rules violations. At the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Denny McCarthy was served with a two-stroke penalty after his caddy stood behind him during a practice putting stroke, which is apparently a violation of the rule forbidding assistance to line up a putt. The USGA rescinded that penalty after player protest.

Last week, Rickie Fowler got popped with a penalty for failing to drop his ball from knee height, so this week he demonstrated exactly what he thought of the new rule:

Golf’s got a phenomenally large contingent of “well, rules are rules” types in its number. That’s not an inherently bad thing; the sport’s based on a respect for rules and a welcome attitude of self-policing.

But when the rules nannies turn a beautiful game into the spiritual equivalent of filling out your taxes, with ridiculously out-of-proportion penalties for failing to toe the line, well, nobody should be too surprised when less nitpicky people turn away from the game.

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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.

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