Masters Phone-In Guy Dave Eger On Why He Ratted On Tiger Woods

You’ll remember Tiger Woods got some horrible luck when his ball hit the pin at this years US Masters and spun back into the water.  Then there was the subsequent drop from the wrong place, the guy who phoned in and finally the Masters Green Jacket brigade invoking some ancient rule which kept Tiger in the tournament.

Well now the guy who phoned in, Dave Eger has spoken to Golf Digest about what actually motivated him to leave down his slice of pizza and bottle of bud, get off his chair, and pick up the phone.

History will no doubt remember Eger as a guy wanted to call a foul on Woods, but as he explains here, he was only trying to help the poor chap.

"I watched Tiger tee off on 14, when he stood at five under par, then left to manhandle a 50-pound bag of potting soil for Tricia. When I got back in front of the TV, Tiger was putting out for par on 16. When the announcer said, 'Tiger remains at four under par,' I naturally wanted to see how he'd made a bogey. So I rewound the DVR to his play at the 15th.

"I watched a replay of him ricocheting his third shot off the flagstick and into the water and thought, He must have hit a great shot to make a 6, and rewound further to watch his fifth shot. That's when I noticed the divot hole a good distance in front of the place where he'd played that fifth shot. Then I watched his third shot again, and I see no divot hole. I replayed the sequence again, and then again."

"I knew immediately that unless somebody intervened before Tiger signed his card, there was a 100-percent chance he would be disqualified for signing for a score lower than what he shot. Tiger clearly didn't play his fifth shot from "as nearly as possible" from where he'd played his third shot, as required by Rule 26-1a. It was imperative that Tiger correct his hole score to an 8 instead of the 6 he'd made.

"So I phoned Mickey Bradley, a PGA Tour rules official who I knew was working the Masters. I'd seen Mickey a couple of weeks before at a Champions Tour event I'd played in. Mickey, who was assigned to the 13th hole, told me he was finished for the day and was in his car. I told him what I'd seen and urged himâ€"stronglyâ€"to reach Mark Russell [rules official] or Fred Ridley [chairman of the Masters competition committees] and notify them. At that point, I figured it was a done deal."

For more golf news, fun and banter follow @golfcentraldoc on twitter or friend me on facebook.