Kevin Na appears to have a case of the “whiffs” this season. First, back in April, he recorded a 16 on a hole at the Valero Texas Open which included a “whiff”, but he still managed to shoot 81. And most recently, Na appeared to “whiff” again on a tee shot at the Justin Timberlake Shriners’ Open en route to notching his first PGA Tour win.
During the 3rd round of the Shriners’ Open, Na lined up for his tee shot on the drivable par-4 15th hole. On his downswing he felt something that wasn’t right and re-routed his swing over the top of the golf ball. Initially it appeared that he simply “whiffed” the ball, but after a closer look at the replay (which can be found on Youtube), it is clear that he had no intention of striking the golf ball. When making the ruling on this situation two things must be determined–What was the player’s intent, and did the player strike the golf ball.
The definition of a Stroke in the USGA Rules of Golf is the “forward movement of the club made with the intention of striking at and moving the ball, but if a player checks his downswing voluntarily before the clubhead reaches the ball he has not made a stroke.” In Kevin’s case, even though he clearly made a “full swing” his intention was not to strike the golf ball–therefore no stroke was added to his score.
Would the answer be the same had he struck the golf ball, even though his intent was not to strike it? Decision 14/1.5 discusses when a player ceases his intent to strike the golf ball. In essence, it states that if the player makes contact with the golf ball, even though he had tried to stop his swing or swing over the top of the ball, he has made a stroke. Any doubt as to whether or not the player has tried to stop his stroke in this circumstance is resolved against the player.
After reading a lot of posts on the numerous Youtube videos of the shot, it is clear that many people believe that Kevin should have incurred a stroke. And many Youtubers have even mentioned that they will say they “…had no intention of hitting the ball” when they actually whiff to get out of taking a stroke. They might have better luck trying a line from Judge Smails in Caddyshack, “Don’t count that, I was interfered with.”
