By Jeev Milkha Singh

Golf is mostly a self-governed sport. The players are expected to know the rules, respect them and ensure that they do not need a referee in most cases. If you are faced with a situation on the golf course, the first person you need to call out is your playing partner and hope that all issues will be solved within the group.

Golfers are expected to do the right thing. It is a sport that demands integrity from players, because in most cases of conflict, you should be able to stick to the spirit of the game and take the right decision yourself.

And most of the times, especially in professional golf — where there is always the added presence of fans as well as the fact that there is a lot of money at stake and your playing partners and their caddies are extra vigilant because they are the ones who will lose out if you cheat — I’d say 99.9 per cent of players are never going to bend rules with an intention to gain advantage.

Also, word travels fast in our locker rooms. If a player is suspicious of another, chances are that he might not report it to the Tour in the first instance, but he’d tell his fellow players. Thereafter, you can be assured anyone who is playing with that person, will be wary and keeping an eye on him.

But as I said, most players are honest. Just last week, David Howell forfeited his winnings from the Shenzhen International because he realised after a couple of days that he had breached a rule.

I have personally felt the guilty consciousness kicking inside me. A few years ago, while playing in Morocco, I discovered during the final round that one of the areas on the golf course from where I hit a shot on the second day, was considered out of bounds in the additional local rules. I think I finished second in that tournament and at stake was close to $60,000 (Dh220,380) in prize money. Should I have kept quiet? It just wasn’t possible because from the day I have started playing the game, it has been drilled into me that honour is the most important thing in our sport. I reported it to the officials and got myself disqualified.

I say all this because of the recent announcement made by the governing bodies limiting the use of video evidence. There have been too many incidents in the past that have led to this. And while the Lexi Thompson case altered the course of a championship, retrospective decisions leave a sour taste in the minds of players and fans.

Of course, there will be debates on the new decision, whether it correctly addresses the issues or not, but what pleases me the most is the faith shown by the governing bodies in the players that they would do the right thing in most cases.

I can assure you that many minor transgressions are actually done unwittingly by the players. However, there is no doubt that the best way to ensure that you never get into trouble is to do the proper thing all the time. In Lexi’s case, it would be to make sure she marks and replaces her ball correctly and exactly as per the rules every time in the future.

— Jeev Milkha Singh is a four-time champion on the European Tour