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By John Maginnes
PGATOUR.com Contributor

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Can you imagine watching a football game and hearing John Madden say, "a caller told us that there was an illegal man down field on the last play so a penalty has been assessed."

Or, how about a college basketball game and Dicky V. says, "a charge has been called by the guy in section 13, row 8, seat 9."

This actually happens in golf, though. It happens more often than you know.

Worry not, Aaron Baddeley was well within the rules on Sunday. (Badz/PGA TOUR/WireImage)

We have an e-mail link on PGATOUR.com that allows people to e-mail us during the broadcast of a tournament on the PGA TOUR Network at XM Satellite Radio. Often there is speculation about possible rules infractions. More often than not there was no infraction. This happened again on Sunday and I have to admit that it got under my skin a little. To address it properly I need to explain exactly what happened.

Aaron Baddeley was about to win the FBR Open. After reaching the green in regulation on the final hole he was faced with a lengthy birdie attempt. Needing only two putts to win, he cozied his first putt up to within a foot of the hole. Rather than tap in for the victory, though, he marked his ball out of courtesy to his two playing partners who had yet to putt. After Aaron marked the ball, his playing partner, Jeff Quinney, asked him to move his spot one putter head length to the right. Apparently, this was all seen by the television audience. The confusion began after Jeff putted out. The third member of the group, Brett Quigley, was away. As he was lining up his putt, Aaron replaced his ball mark to the original position. This was obviously not noticed by the television audience.

Just to be clear, there was no infraction. Aaron is fully within his rights to replace the ball mark that he moved whenever he pleases. The reason that he moved it back after Jeff putted is so that he wouldn't forget. This is standard practice on the TOUR. Furthermore, the other players in the group will remind a guy to move his mark back to its original position. (And no, this is not offering advice, this is a courtesy and sportsmanship at its finest.)

I understand that many of you are skeptical about what I am saying and you are just going to have to trust me. If a player, in this day and age, was even accused of cheating in any way he would be chased off the TOUR. The players on the PGA TOUR police themselves as well as any organization in the country, sports or otherwise.

The first I ever heard of people watching on TV and calling in to suggest a player should be penalized was when Craig Stadler kneeled on a towel as he hit a shot from under a tree on Saturday at the Buick Invitational nearly two decades ago. Craig, you will remember, was disqualified the following day. The irony of Craig's infraction is that there probably wasn't another player in the field who cared less about getting his pants dirty.

No player on the TOUR would ever knowingly cheat. It just doesn't happen. Players call penalties on themselves routinely. This type of sportsmanship is what we love about this game. Furthermore, the PGA TOUR rules staff does an excellent job of upholding the rules and maintaining the equity in the game.

Golf fans are closer to the action than any other sports fans. Additionally, they are the most knowledgeable fans in sports. This is what makes being a golf fan unique. When your favorite player doesn't win it is often a cruel twist of fate but it is never unjust. The players wouldn't stand for it.