In every professional tournament, there are numerous situations where rulings are required. Free drops from sprinkler heads, line of sight relief from Temporary Immovable Obstructions, a ball coming to rest in a spectator’s sandwich… those sorts of things.
Tournament referees earn their crust. Buzzing about the course, solving Rules conundrums for players competing for significant prize money. It’s a vital job and it’s essential the officials get it right to ensure the tournament playing field is fair and level.
There are a huge number of scenarios that can arise on the golf course, and both players and Rules officials must be ready and knowledgeable enough to deal with some unusual ones. Here, David Wilson, Rules Manager at The R&A looks at five high profile Rules incidents of 2024 that had players scratching their heads. Thankfully, in each one, trained Rules experts were on hand to point them in the right direction.
Original Ball Found, But Not By Player – Shane Lowry
Shane wasn’t too happy with the ruling…
(Image credit: Getty Images)
The 152nd Open – Day Two
An experience many of us can relate to is hitting our golf ball offline and towards the bushes, and to then to follow up by a hitting a provisional ball straight into the middle of the fairway or green.
And this is just what happened to Shane Lowry on the 11th hole at Royal Troon on day two of the 152nd Open Championship. Lowry’s second shot headed left out of the thick grass into the gorse bushes lining the left side of the hole, so he played a provisional ball which was struck onto the green. Following the fine approach with his provisional, Lowry wished to proceed with the provisional ball and attempt a putt for a would-be bogey, however a spectator had already found a ball in the bushes in the area where his original ball may lie. And the Rules are very specific in what must happen in this scenario.
The original ball is still in play because the second ball has been played as a provisional ball; essentially in case the first ball is lost. And as a ball has been found in the area of the original ball, and irrespective of by whom, the player must identify it. If it is the player’s ball, then they must proceed with the original ball and the provisional becomes obsolete, just as it did for Lowry. This led to the taking of an unplayable ball, choosing back-on-the-line relief and eventually finishing the hole with a double bogey 6.
..
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Latest from Golf Monthly in Golf-rules…