Golf understandably revels in its reputation for being a game of honor, with players routinely calling penalties on themselves that nobody else saw, sometimes at the risk of costing them fame and fortune.
Warren Little/Getty ImagesThe incident where Elliot Saltman was accused of cheating happened in 2010 on Europe's Challenge Tour, the equivalent of the Nationwide Tour in the United States. What the game's leaders don't like to talk about, however, is the idea that some of their supposed upstanding citizens would intentionally try to gain an unfair advantage, or possibly even cheat.
The three-month suspension of Scotsman Elliot Saltman by the European Tour on Wednesday is a reminder that not all is upstanding inside the ropes.
Saltman, a journeyman pro who played Europe's Challenge Tour in 2010, was cited by two players in his group at last year's M2M Russian Challenge Cup for improperly marking his golf ball on the greens at least five times.
Stuart Davies and Marcus Higley brought it to Saltman's attention and later to tournament officials. They said they would not sign his scorecard because they felt Saltman breached the rules. Saltman was disqualified.
Saltman's transgression was minor in the overall scheme of things -- he replaced his golf ball fractionally closer to the hole. Still, it was noticeable enough to his playing companions to raise concern.
And it makes you wonder how often this sort of thing occurs, how often competitors look the other way or try to get their point across behind closed doors without going to officials.
Certainly there are players who have reputations for pushing the edge of the rules, whether it be pleading for a favorable ruling or where they might take a drop. That's why you always hear that phrase "protecting the field" when it comes to the duties of players and caddies in the group.
If there has ever been such a suspension on the PGA Tour, it is unclear. The tour does not make suspensions public, and certainly would not want to make a public deal out of anyone deliberately trying to gain an advantage.
Perhaps the most high-profile accusation lodged in this regard was by Greg Norman against Mark McCumber in 1995 at the World Series of Golf. The duo played the first round together at Firestone, and Norman felt that McCumber illegally touched his putting line, while McCumber claimed he was removing a bug -- which is allowed.
Afterward, Norman refused to sign McCumber's scorecard, but because there was no other compelling evidence against him, McCumber was not disqualified, as rules officials typically give the accused the benefit of the doubt.
Nonetheless, the charge by Norman dogged McCumber, just as Colin Montgomerie is still haunted by what happened at the 2005 Indonesian Open, where after a rain delay he improperly replaced his ball, leading to what appeared to be a much better lie.
Although rules officials did not act during the tournament, there was considerable consternation about Montgomerie's acts afterward, enough to cause him to donate his prize money to charity. There was no suspension, and the committee simply expressed its "dissatisfaction" with Montgomerie.
Last month Saltman told reporters that he regretted telling officials that he broken the rules.
"I accepted what was said at the time because I was in shock at the time and I didn't want to be labeled a cheat," he said. "I am sorry now that I didn't stand up for myself."
Saltman had that opportunity at a hearing Tuesday in Abu Dhabi, site of this week's European Tour event. Both Davies and Higley were flown in as well.
Without video evidence, but with two players as witnesses, the European Tour's Tournament Committee handed down the penalty, saying Saltman's actions constituted a "serious breach" of the rules. He has 28 days to appeal, and you can bet the tour simply hopes this goes away.
It was the first such suspension on the European Tour since 1992 but still leaves an uncomfortable feeling. On one side, you've got a player's reputation in tatters. On the other, there is the notion that this sort of thing could be happening more than we think.
Bob Harig covers golf for ESPN.com. He can be reached at BobHarig@gmail.com.
- Senior golf writer for ESPN.com
- Covered golf for more than 20 years
- Earned Evans Scholarship to attend Indiana University
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Michael Collins has been writing for ESPN.com since yesterday. He started out as a stand up comedian and fell into PGA Tour golf and caddying completely by accident in 1998.
He started looping for fun in 1999 but by 2003 had decided to make it a full time gig. He won the Nationwide Tour Championship with Chris Couch in 2003 and was on the bag for Kevin Streelman when they captured the inaugural Kodak Challenge in 2009.
Michael has never won an award for his writing, probably because he failed high school English and still types with his index fingers. But he's smart, funny, and most importantly knows the game/players/caddies and what they go through on a week-to-week basis and brings a caddie perspective that's different than anything you've ever seen when it comes to golf coverage.
Farrell Evans grew up in Forsyth, Ga., 60 miles south of Atlanta, where he learned the game at the Forsyth Golf Club, an 18-hole public course. After high school, he played on the golf team at Florida A&M University and interned with the PGA Tour at the TPC at Sawgrass.
Before joining ESPN.com in August 2011, he was a golf writer for nine years at Sports Illustrated. He currently lives in Harlem and can be contacted at evans.espn@gmail.com.
Bob Harig is a golf writer for ESPN.com and has been covering the game for more than 20 years, first at the St. Petersburg Times and for the last four years at ESPN.com. He began contributing to ESPN.com in 1997.
Harig is a native of Barrington, Ill., where he got his first exposure to golf as a caddie at Inverness Golf Club, where he earned an Evans Scholarship to attend Indiana University. He graduated with degrees in journalism and history.
Harig lives in Florida and can be reached at BobHarig@gmail.com
Kevin Maguire is the senior golf editor for ESPN.com and covered his first PGA Tour event in 1994 while at American University in Washington, D.C. He played collegiately for the Eagles and graduated with a degree in print journalism.
Maguire grew up in the Philadelphia, Pa. area and now resides outside of Hartford, Conn. He has been with ESPN since February, 2007 and can be reached at Kevin.Maguire@espn.com.
Justin Ray is a senior researcher with ESPN Stats and Information. He has contributed to ESPN's golf coverage since joining the network out of college in 2008. He is based in Austin, Texas with the new Longhorn Network.
He can be contacted at Justin.Ray@espn.com.
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