Which Golfin’ Etiquette Faux Pas Do You Feel Are Bannable Offenses?

By now I am sure you have caught wind of John Daly’s moment of despair at the Australian Open. After hitting about 7 balls into the water (already 2 over the par 5) of the 11th hole, he called it quits and just walked off the course.

He stood smoking a cigarette while waiting for his car to take him to his hotel in Sydney, and flat out refused to tal kto the media. His Girlfriend, Anna Cladakis, told them that, “you can’t play if you’ve run out of golf balls.” And later JD Tweeted:

When u run out of balls u run out of balls. yes, I shook my player’s partners hands & signed my card w/rules official.

But that wasnt a good enough excuse for the Chief of PGA Australia, Brian Thorburn, who decided to release a statement withdrawing Daly’s invitation to the PGA Championsnhip coming up November 24th-27th, and explaining that he will receive no appearance fee for either tournament.

The PGA does not need this kind of behavior tarnishing the achievements of other players and the reputation of our tournaments. John is not welcome at Coolum

According to Tournament director Herden, if a golfer runs out of golf balls and is acting in a professional manner, said golfer could just phone the course officials and have his stock replenished. He also went on to say:

“I’m extremely bitter and disappointed that he’s treated this championship this way,” Herden said.
Now it’s becoming a bit of a habit … I certainly hope that all the tours deal with it in the appropriate manner this time.
We are definitely disappointed in that attitude and it’s unprofessional.
Obviously he’s a major winner; we need to pay him some respect too.
Even though his times have moved on slightly, he’s still a major winner.
He likes to come back and if he wants to play the Australian Open, we have major winners.
But I would say this will be the last time we see John Daly.

And thus it would seem that JD’s attitude has him banned from Australian Golf. He did however, present him self in top form at the pro-am in Melbourne, even after Jarrod Lyle presented him with a box of balls before the tournament began. But even this one “best behavior appearance” may not be enough to keep him from getting banned from the game entirely. golf officials are investigating the issue, with the intent on potentially fining and fully banning him for good.

While this caveman doesn’t condone JD’s actions, a full ban from golf seems a bit extreme. We have all had those days on the course where we can’t do anything right, and just feel the need to give up. Granted for most of us, its not at a championship, or even in a competitive setting. I say fine him, and ban him from the PGA Championship, but not from the game permanently.

What do you think Rock Heads? Should JD be banned indefinitely? What other offenses should be cause for a banishment?

~Scratch