That part of the event was, once again, outstanding with close finishes and top notch play in both the men’s and women’s fields.

(Sidenote #1: The Vic Open remains the original and best in the market of mixed format professional tournaments. There are multiple factors to that, including location, but no one else in the world who has tried it has improved on the original for mine. Tip of the hat, again, to David Greenhill who came up with the concept a dozen years ago.)

But back to Saturday and the game not being all about hitting the ball and holing putts.

Golf is a multi-dimensional endeavour and while we focus on the hitting and holing (for good reason) not all the game’s disciplines are to do with those skills.

Some are intangibles, like integrity and tenacity, which is what I took from viewing the third round.

"While it’s not quite in the Bob Jones ‘might as well congratulate a man for not robbing a bank’ league, Kanizawa’s actions are in that realm." – Rod Morri.

There was a small (perhaps even miniscule) incident on the 14th hole Saturday which tapped into that annoying yet somehow relevant feeling that golf imitates life and teaches us bigger lessons about ourselves and others.

(Sidenote #2: For those who don’t believe this I once interviewed a former senior diplomat whose top priority in any new posting was to organise a round of golf with his opposite number. “You learn everything you need to know about a person’s character when you play golf with them,” he said.)

But I digress.

What happened on the 14th hole won’t make headlines, but it should make every golfer nod in appreciation just a little bit.

Overnight leader Shina Kanazawa of Japan had not had a good day to that point, a quadruple bogey 8 on the 8th hole being the lowlight.

And her lie after a pulled drive did little to improve things, her ball almost buried underground in some form of divot (most likely) or possibly an animal scrape.

Both on course commentator Stacey Peters and former World No.16 Nick O’Hern agreed they would call for a ruling if it was their ball in the hope of being granted relief.

And that would have been a perfectly sensible and professional course of action for Kanizawa to take.

But she didn’t.

Instead, she simply assessed the lie, pulled a club and took her medicine, chopping out short of the green before going on to make a bogey.

While it’s not quite in the Bob Jones ‘might as well congratulate a man for not robbing a bank’ league, Kanizawa’s actions are in that realm.

She may or may not have gotten relief had she asked. But the point is she didn’t.

Would it have been wrong if she did? No.

But was it ‘more right’ that she didn’t? Everyone will have their own thoughts but for mine, the answer is yes.

The ‘quality of the golf’ was raised ever so slightly thanks to Kanizawa’s actions and despite Jones’ protestations I think she’s to be congratulated for ‘not robbing a bank’.