[touchfaith]

I don't know why, but this has recently puzzled me (trival things puzzle me).

Doesn't the act of picking up your ball out of the hole damage the area directly around the hole more then spikes ever could?

When bending over, all of you weight is on that front foot, which is typically within just a foot or two of the hole itself, and I would think this would cause massive depressions, particularly in the case of some of the guys like Daly.

This of course is going to be less common on the hard greens we mainly see on TV, but what about when the greens are soft, for instance, just after a rain?

I guess I am just surprised that, with all the bitching that can go on about spike marks or the likes, caddies are not required to retrieve the ball from the hole with one of those old-dude suction-cup things people put on their putters.