What do you get when you cross a golfer with a politician? You either end up with an politician who has ethics and integrity or you end up with a cheating golfer.

What happened on Sunday, April 18th, 2010 at Hilton Head,SC during the final round of The Heritage Golf Tournament is a lesson from which the world would benefit.

During the sudden death playoff between Jim Furyk of the U.S.A. and Brian Davis of the U.K., Davis' second shot ended in the natural bunker , just below the hole. Furyk's shot ended on the green about 30 feet from the hole. Furyk putted first because he was away. He came within a few feet of the hole. A simple 4 foot putt to get his par.

Meanwhile, Davis studied his next shot. Since his ball was in a bunker, he had to treat it like a sand trap. Once in a trap, your club face cannot have any contact with anything but the ball and sand when you swing to hit the ball. You cannot touch anything with the club. You can take a practice swing but it cannot come in contact with anything. That is the rule.

Davis lined up with the ball three or four times to try to visualize his shot. He climbed out of the bunker to look for a landing spot, then he went back to the bunker to line it up one final time. He lined it up one more time and during his back swing slightly brushed a dead piece of seaweed and he struck the ball, it flew out of the trap and landed on the green about 25 feet from the hole. All he had to do was sink the putt for par. Not an easy putt by any means but sinkable.

He did the unthinkable for the average golfer. He called a penalty on himself. He didn't hesitate for a second and immediately called for PGA Tour rules official Slugger White.

He said he didn't know for sure that his club came in contact with the seaweed on his back swing but his golf ethics said he had to say something. Replay the first time was inconclusive as was the second. Upon close inspection, something so close that even the image had to be magnified to verify. If the club did come in contact with seaweed, even on the back swing, it would mean a two stroke penalty and loss of the tournament.

The club did indeed very slightly touch the seaweed on his back stroke and he was assessed a two stroke penalty. Jim Furyk won the tournament but the class of Brian Davis and his ethics will be talked about in the golf world for years to come.

"It was classed as a loose impediment," said Davis. "Shouldn't have hit it in the hazard. What can you do? It's one of those things we all live by. Live by the rules."

So what do you get when you cross Bill Davis with a politician, you just might end up with an honest politician. Can you ever fathom a politician calling a penalty on himself. Live by the rules is not a politician's mantra, circumvent the rules is more like it.

Hats off to Brian Davis for calling a penalty on himself and thanks for the lesson of honesty and the courage. His parents certainly must be proud.

So what do Golf and Politics have in common? NOTHING, absolutely NOTHING!