I played in Riverside this weekend, and I have to say that I saw enough obvious misuse of this rule that I believe changing it is justified. First, in the "controversial win" for Ernesto, I am happy to hear that the tournament director did not just give the call to Ernesto's opponent. On Ernesto's behalf, I'd like to say that, after knowing him for about 14 years now, I have never seen nor heard of him pulling any sort of move on anyone. I've never seen him be anything other than polite to his opponents whether he wins or loses. His opponent in that match did something similar in an earlier match, and with the rule the way it is, got the call. Now, I don't know for certain if it was a bad hit or not, but an entire room, me included, and his opponent, saw the shot and it looked like he completely missed the ball he was shooting at (he tried to play safe on the 9 by thinning it and leaving it on the top rail and putting the cue ball on the bottom rail). Whether or not it was a bad hit or good hit, the rule is bad because dishonest players can take advantage of it, and until everyone can be trusted to be honest (there is some slight sarcasm there), that rule won't work. I really don't know what can be done other than the T.D. talking to spectators, and anyone else who might have saw the shot, and taking their comments into consideration when making a ruling. I don't know if that is the "best" solution, but there has to be something better than the current rule because players can't really be expected to call a referee to watch every shot. That would require a referee for every match, and there is hardly enough money in pool to pay the players, much less pay a referee to watch over every match.
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I would have liked to not scratch on that 2 ball when it was hill-hill in my last match! 
I didn't stick around to watch the rest of the matches because I still had the drive to Phoenix ahead of me, and I wanted to get started. I did see an earlier match of Medina's where he tried to thin the 9 ball to play safe, and it appeared to me, and everyone else watching (including his opponent) that he missed the entire ball. Naturally, his opponent goes to take ball in hand, and Medina says, "I hit it!" I don't know for sure if he hit it or not, but I heard a lot about that shot from other people watching it, and every single person who saw it (that I spoke to, or overheard talking) thought he missed the ball. That is where the rule needs some help. Should you have to call a ref over to watch someone shoot at the only ball on the table? Shouldn't a foul be obvious in that case? The problem is, foul or not, all the shooter has to say is, "it was a good hit", and regardless of whether or not it was, they get the call. But I do agree with you that the semi-finals match (and above) would be better off with a dedicated ref, or, at least, someone who is authorized to make a call watching the match. See you at the next tournament out there ...