It is an interesting situation - there has never been a golfer whose every move on a golf course is recorded and broadcast the way Tiger is, so we have for the first time millions of viewers watching live on replay and on video many of whom take great delight in finding rule infractions. Most pro golfers only have maybe 20 shots a round shown - Tiger 70. Things like the exact location of marker on the green, a drop, or the possibility of a slight movement in a ball can be analyzed for Tiger in a way that it can't be for other golfers on a course. It is an interesting situation and one that is new to the golf world.
A cheater is to my mind someone who tries to get away with breaking the rules and I don't actually think that is the case in any of the three instances where Tiger was penalized. The only reason he was penalized in the Masters is because he publicly said he had not dropped in the same place after the round still not realizing he was using the wrong rule to position the drop. I assume he would not blatantly take relief from a plugged lie unless he believe those were the course conditions he was playing under and failure to notice a minute movement of a ball probably happens hundreds of times a year on tour, but is not recorded on high definition video for review and penalization.
The rules of golf have actually changed at least twice in the TV era to protect players from just these situations - a while ago the tournament review was changed to handle in round infractions so penalty strokes could be assigned during the round and players would not sign cards with incorrect scores, and it was just changed and first invoked in Tiger's case to handle incorrect assessments by the rules committee during the round that then get overturned after a scorecard is signed.
I tend to agree with the Tiger side - he made incorrect plays and was assessed penalties - doesn't sound like cheating. Not sure how many penalty strokes were assessed on tour this year and how many were self assessed vs. committee assessed, but I am not prepared to call all those golfers cheaters either and I doubt Chamblee would either.
