Cheatgate: Is Jason Millard A Hero Or Guilty Villain After DQ From US Open One Week After Incident?

Something is not right about this. Memphis US Open qualifier Jason Millard is receiving all the plaudits today after contacting the USGA and calling a penalty on himself one week after the sectional qualifier.

But is this display of sportsmanship entirely wholesome?

Millard felt he might have grounded the club in a bunker during qualy.  Apparently at the time of the incident Millard told playing partner Tommy Gainey, who didn't see it, and a referee, who told him it was completely up to himself whether or not to call a penalty.

He did. Eventually.  In Millard's car with his caddie on the road to Pinehurst almost a week later.

This appears on the USGA site:
Jason Millard has been disqualified from the 2014 U.S. Open Championship on Saturday, June 7 after reporting a self-imposed penalty in sectional qualifying.
“We commend Jason for bringing this matter to our attention,” said Daniel B. Burton, USGA vice president and chairman of the Championship Committee. “At this time, we have no recourse but to disqualify him under the Rules of Golf and specifically Rule 34-1b.”
Millard, who qualified in Memphis, Tenn. after carding a pair of 68s, was playing his third shot on the 18th hole of Colonial Country Club’s North Course, his 27th hole of the day, when the penalty occurred.
“I’m pretty sure I grounded my club in the bunker,” said Millard, who will be replaced by amateur Sam Love, of Trussville, Ala., the second alternate from the same qualifying site. “I didn’t see anything for sure but I felt something and I saw a small indentation. It happened so fast, I really don’t know 100 percent but deep down, I believe I did. I couldn’t find peace about it. For five days, I practiced and I couldn’t get it off my mind.
“It’s heart-breaking but what I was feeling in my heart didn’t feel right,” said Millard, who played in this year’s PGA Tour Honda Classic and was a two-time All-American at Middle Tennessee State University. “It’s the right decision and I am sticking with it.”

Is this a case of commending Millard for doing the right thing and DQ'ing himself now or should he have penalized himself immediately after the round allowing Sam Love to celebrate getting in to the US Open and preparing accordingly?

Is Millard a true sportsman or a guy who tried for a week to live with the guilt of cheating but eventually caved after it gnawed away at him for a week?

Kudos for doing the right thing, but it should have been done at the time.

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