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U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPJuly 10, 2016John BodenhamerSan Martin, California MODERATOR: Ladies and gentlemen, we have John Bodenhamer, Senior Managing Director of Competitions and Championships and Governance to discuss the ruling pertaining to Anna Nordqvist. John, can we begin with having you describe the sequence of events from the time you found out about the situation until Anna was told? JOHN BODENHAMER: We were observing play near the 17th putting green. We received a call from FOX about did we -- was there any issue with anything that had happened in the bunker. And that was the first that we heard of it. We were not aware of anything at that time. That's the first we'd heard. We immediately called a member of our staff who was watching the live coverage and contacted him immediately, and he verified that he could not see anything in watching it. I think at that point he had watched it three times and did not see anything. At that time we decided that we would, nonetheless, proactively go up to the compound and left right away, because we wanted to just put your own eyeballs on it, make sure it was conclusive, and we just wanted to see it and understand it. So in just a couple of minutes, we went up to the compound and we had a look at it. We concluded that it was a breach. We quickly consulted with our committee and decided that we would inform Anna immediately. We immediately notified the referee, who, as quickly as he could, notified Anna and Brittany. That's the sequence of events. MODERATOR: John, just to clarify, the camera angle that you saw in the FOX truck was different than the one that the first video viewer saw, is that correct? JOHN BODENHAMER: Yes, our staff member who was watching coverage had initially seen the live coverage. Again, he did not see anything that would lead him to believe there was a breach. I should mention, at the time, our referee also consulted and said they were near the bunker and did not see anything that would lead them to believe that there would be a breach. But it was apparent a short time later, I don't know when, that FOX showed a much, much -- a view that was much closer. And that's what we saw as soon as we got into the trailer. MODERATOR: John, thank you. Any questions for John Bodenhamer? Q. John, when you were in here on Wednesday, you said you guys were going to be reviewing all of your processes, was this what you had in mind? JOHN BODENHAMER: I stand by that. We have and we will continue to do so. I also said that we would be expeditious and decisive, and I feel good that we were just that. Q. And was there ever any consideration about the situation on the ground? For example, Anna Nordqvist had already played her third shot into 18, Brittany Lang had not, when the information was relayed to them. Was there any consideration to either halt play before Anna hit her third shot or wait until after Brittany hit hers to inform them both after they had played their third shots into 18? JOHN BODENHAMER: We did not know where the players were on 18. We knew they were on 18. Our decision was to ask our referee to inform both players as soon as possible. MODERATOR: Other questions? Q. John, you said you were first aware of someone noticing something as you approached the 17th green. Was there any thought at that point of putting things on pause while it was sorted out? As you said later, taking a closer look at it, obviously that's when you saw the infraction? JOHN BODENHAMER: No, there was no thought to hold things at that point. We had no evidence to indicate that there was a breach, so we would not hold play in that instance. Q. We get emails and tweets from casual fans who maybe don't tune into every week to golf about how it seems short of haphazard, whether or not replay is used, when it's used. As you said, you only looked at it closer because FOX called. Should there be some sort of guideline as to when it applies and whether you should take the situation into consideration as to when you inform players? JOHN BODENHAMER: I had a little bit of trouble hearing that question, but I would answer it in this manner: We attempt to proactively watch the broadcast, and we had a staff member doing that. And so when we called, he had already watched it on the live broadcast before we called. So we were proactively on it. But at that point, we had not seen the additional view that later surfaced. We saw that when we got to the trailer. So I think from the standpoint of following our protocols, we followed them exactly as they're designed. MODERATOR: Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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