Good Sportsmanship/Honesty: Would YOU Do It?...

[ChefChiTown]

The true test of a man's character is what he does when no one is watching. John Wooden said that, or maybe it was Spider-Man. Whatever, it still holds true; being noble and upstanding is easy enough when you've got people watching, but when you're alone with yourself, when you could do the wrong thing (or avoid the right thing) and get away with it, well -- that's when you find out what kind of person you are.

By that standard, then, J.P. Hayes is among the best that sports has to offer. He played a nonconforming ball for a single hole of the second stage of Q School last weekend. He realized it more than a day after the "*********," called it on himself, and thus disqualified himself from Q School ... with some severe, career-altering effects down the line.

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I'm not extremely familiar with all of the rules that are involved in Golf, but I'll paraphrase...

This golfer had a ball in his bag (HAHA) that wasn't allowed to be used during tournament play, according to PGA rules and regulations. During one of the holes in his most recent tournament, this guy's caddy tossed him a new ball to use and it happened to be an "*******" model of ball which wasn't allowed during tournament play. The golfer didn't notice it until later, but he was honest enough to call the PGA officials and report his own ******* action. This ended up disqualifying him from the tournament and could have some major impact on his future PGA career and could end up costing him millions and millions of dollars in potential earnings.

I know that it's not a huge deal that this guy used an "*******" ball, but I think it took a great deal of honesty, respect for the game and it's players, to basically disqualify himself from the tournament.

Pun intended, but this guy has some serious balls.