Columnist Ron Kantowski: Count on golf pros to play by rules

Thursday, June 29, 2000 | 10:29 a.m.

Ron Kantowski's column appears Thursday. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or 259-4088.

While I marvel at the extraordinary talent of the players, pro golf has never been one of my favorite sports. The pace of the game is a little too pedestrian. And, as a former college basketball player remarked as we tried to hit long iron shots off a makeshift "fairway" (actually, an area inside the 20-yard line on the football field that was mown a little closer than usual during "Beginning Golf" class at a small college), there are no moves you can use to shake your opponent.

But there is one reason the PGA Tour is better than the other pro sports:

You can hold a tournament without umpires or referees or linesmen.

Oh, I suppose every once in a while a guy on one of the satellite tours will try to sneak a ball that's wound tighter than Al Gore into his bag, or one of those groovy irons that's supposed to make the ball fly straighter. But once the round begins, PGA and LPGA touring pros always play it straight.

They even call penalties on themselves. When nobody's looking.

It could be the third hole (before the TV coverage begins) of the Tin Cup Invitational. But you can bet that if Bob "Sansabelt" Slack accidentally nudges his ball while trying to remove a stray leaf from its path, he'll call a one-stroke penalty on himself for "improving his lie."

Or it could be on a bigger stage -- such as last weekend's LGPA Championship.

Title contender Wendy Ward was standing over a par putt on the 13th green when her ball moved a fraction of an inch. Nobody saw it except Ward, who nevertheless said she had no choice but to assess a penalty stroke to her score.

Ward missed out on a playoff with Juli Inkster and upstart Stefania Croce by one stroke. She settled for third-place money -- and a restful night's sleep.

Had Ward conducted herself in the manner of the Atlanta Braves, she might have used a "foot wedge" to improve her lie without so much as flinching.

In case you missed it -- and due to the vague wording of wire service stories reporting the incident, you might not have picked up on its relevance -- the Braves last weekend were busted for using an "altered" catcher's box. It was said to be 4 to 5 inches wider than regulation size.

Opposing teams long have claimed that Atlanta pitchers are given an extra-wide strike zone. Catchers who set up wide of the plate can increase the chances of an outside pitch being called a strike -- especially when you've got a staff of control freaks such as Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, who can toss a sunflower seed into a Dixie Cup from 60 feet, 6 inches.

The Braves took a proactive approach when their little ruse was uncovered. After the Milwaukee Brewers (who don't have pitchers like Maddux and Glavine) last Friday raised a ruckus over the catcher's box dimensions, the Braves' TV announcers during Saturday's telecast visually pointed out the difference between the bogus box and a regulation one. The entire crew was immediately banned from riding the team airplane. (The Braves since have recanted, allowing Skip Caray, et al, back on the team charter.)

Instead of confessing to pulling a fast one and promising it wouldn't happen again, the Braves shot the messengers. Or at least tried to take their frequent flier miles away.

That just wouldn't fly at Pebble Beach.