Hold all calls - grounding club in sand is legitimate

PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON, pictured, fell foul of “trial by television” last week, but fans at home are being told not to turn him in this week if they see him grounding his club on sand in Bahrain.

For the purposes of the inaugural Volvo Golf Champions, there are deemed to be no bunkers, just acres of sandy waste areas. The same decision would have kept American Dustin Johnson’s hopes of a first major alive last August.

The European Tour’s ruling allows players to take practice swings, move loose impediments and ground the club “lightly behind the ball” in all sand areas.

Chief referee Andy McFee, the man who broke the bad news to Harrington in Abu Dhabi after he accidentally nudged his ball forward while picking up his marker on a green, said: “We have taken this decision to provide clarity for the players.”