- 8 hours ago
In this video, Neil Tappin is joined by Golf Monthly's rule guru Jezz Ellwood to discuss 7 of the strangest rules incidents to occur on tour. As golf is played in a natural landscape there is a possibility for a whole array of things to happen whilst you are playing. The fact that these rules incidents happened shows that even professional golfers can find themselves in odd circumstances whilst playing. And from watching this video, you will know what to do if you ever find yourself in a situation that is similar to one of these!
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00:03Hello everyone, Neil Tappin here from Golf Monthly and welcome to the London Club and this video
00:08looking at the seven strangest or most unusual rules incidents that have happened out on tour.
00:14Now some of these are really famous that I'm sure many of you watching this will have heard about,
00:19some of them are less obvious, less well known about, they're all incredibly unusual. So let's
00:25head out now onto the golf course here at the London Club and look at the seven strangest rules
00:29incidents on tour.
00:35Okay, so hopefully you can see behind me here there is a golf ball stuck up a tree. Now, Jez,
00:39what are the famous
00:40rules incidents where balls have been stuck up a tree?
00:43Okay, well golfers of a certain age would automatically remember Bernard Langer at Fulford in 1981. Slightly younger
00:50golfers may well remember Sergio Garcia clambering around in a tree at Bay Hill just six or seven years ago.
00:56That would suggest to me then that you're able to play the ball as it lies if it's stuck up
01:00a tree. Is that true?
01:01It is true. Tree is just really part of the general area and if you're able to get up there
01:05to play the
01:06ball then you may go ahead and do that if it's wise and safe to do so. And perhaps more
01:12importantly
01:12their balls were higher up the tree but you are allowed to get assistance in getting up there. I think
01:17Langer
01:18enlisted some of the crowd to help him get that first foothold and Garcia clambered on a buggy to
01:23enable him to reach the branch to haul himself up.
01:26Yeah, it's maybe not that advisable. It's risky, it's dangerous. It's also risky from a rules perspective, isn't it?
01:32Well, once you're up there you've obviously got to be careful not to move the ball and if you're clambering
01:36around
01:36and not quite sure of your footing you could easily lose your footing, move the ball and undo all the
01:40good work of spending time getting up there. Yes. And also you can't improve the lice, you've got to be
01:45very careful what you do when you're up there. You can't improve the conditions affecting the stroke
01:49otherwise again you'll be penalised. What about identifying it, Jess?
01:53Yeah, well you've got to be able to identify it's your ball before you play it. Obviously if you've clambered
01:57up the tree
01:57you can see whether it's your ball or not. If you're on the ground working out whether to perhaps take
02:01an unplayable
02:03you can use binoculars, you probably won't have any but on tour that has happened. Or maybe a rangefinder
02:08can you zoom in enough with your rangefinder to see your markings on the ball up the tree.
02:13Yeah, so there you have it, ball up the tree. You might think it's a rare scenario but it has
02:17happened.
02:23Okay, so this one relates to another very famous rules incident. It happened in 2018 at the US Open at
02:29Shinnecock Hills.
02:29What happened?
02:30Okay, well if I say Phil Mickelson, most people automatically know he ran round and hit his ball
02:37while it was still moving on the green. He had a 12 foot bogey putt on the 13th in the
02:41third round.
02:42He hit it too hard. The ball was going to roll off the green and go some distance back down
02:47the fringe
02:47and the fairway. Rather than allow it to do that, he ran round and hit it again while it was
02:52still moving.
02:53So what was the ultimate penalty in that scenario?
02:56Well, the ultimate penalty was two strokes and the rule at the time was 14-5, which said
03:01you must not make a stroke at a ball while it is moving and the penalty for doing that is
03:05two strokes.
03:06And the USGA felt that that rule covered the situation that happened and therefore two strokes was the appropriate penalty.
03:13Yeah, I remember it very clearly. I think he was playing with Beef Johnson at the time.
03:18I guess one of those scenarios that arises when these guys are playing on a golf course that's set up
03:24quite hard, very hard,
03:25and the greens are incredibly quick and it's just one of those things that happened.
03:30Yeah, I think so. I mean, it's close to the edge. I don't think he was playing particularly well.
03:35It's a tournament he's always desperately wanted to win and this one clearly wasn't going to go his way either.
03:40So I think it was just an accumulation of various events and suddenly he was striking a moving ball.
03:51Okay, so this one happened at the 2013 US Masters.
03:55It's one of the most famous rules incidents I think I can remember from watching golf.
03:58Jez, what happened?
04:00Okay, so Tiger is playing the 15th hole and he's hit pretty much the perfect third shot in,
04:06which normally would just miss the flag, spin and stop pretty close, very close maybe.
04:12Instead, it's hit the flag and bounced back into the water.
04:15Ouch, and you see it every now and again on tour.
04:17These guys are so good, so accurate, so precise.
04:19They can hit the flag with their pitch shots every now and again.
04:22What did Tiger do next?
04:24Okay, well he pondered his drop options, decided not to take back on the line relief
04:29because the ground was a bit soft over there
04:31and elected to again replay the shot from where he'd last played from
04:35under penalty of stroke and distance.
04:37Except he didn't play quite from exactly where he'd last played from.
04:41He purposely went two club lengths further back to avoid the risk of hitting the flag again.
04:48Doing the same thing again, which again underlines how good these guys are.
04:51So what was the resolution then?
04:53Okay, well you're not allowed to do that because you have to drop as close as possible to the spot
04:57where you originally played from, so to say that you've actually found that spot
05:01and then gone a bit further back is against the rules.
05:04But the Masters Committee had already been alerted to it and reviewed it
05:08and deemed it okay so that he could sign his card.
05:11Right, okay.
05:12And then I think later on was when Tiger mentioned the going two club lengths further back.
05:16By that time he'd signed his card, so there was a lot of talk about whether he should be disqualified
05:21or what.
05:22But in the end the Masters Committee decided, because they'd already okayed him to sign his card,
05:28he would get a two-shot penalty for effectively playing from a wrong place
05:31and the scorecard would subsequently be changed.
05:34His six became an eight on that hole.
05:35Yeah.
05:36And I think one of the reasons this was such a famous incident was because firstly it was Tiger,
05:41secondly he was in contention at the Masters and I think Jez.
05:44Yes.
05:44Did he not finish four shots off at the end of it or something?
05:47I think this was the interesting thing for me was that if the ball had spun and stopped stone dead
05:52and he tapped in for birdie four rather than the eight he had to sign for,
05:57four shots difference and he finished four shots out of the playoff.
06:06Okay Jez, so this one refers to one of the most famous incidents out on tour where a player has
06:11got
06:12multiple penalty shots for getting something.
06:14What happened?
06:15Yeah, these happen from time to time.
06:17This one, we're talking about preferred lies.
06:19You've got a rubbish lie there in the winter in the UK, typically preferred lies in operation.
06:24You'd be able to move that.
06:26Sometimes they play preferred lies on tour in extreme conditions and in the French Open in 2019,
06:33Marcel Zim thought they were playing preferred lies and they weren't.
06:37Ah.
06:38Ah.
06:39So what happened?
06:40Well, what happened was by the time the rules officials caught up with him in his first round,
06:45he preferred his lie five times.
06:47Right.
06:47So how many penalty shots is that?
06:49Well, we're talking two shots per incident for playing from a wrong place, rule 14.7.
06:54So by the time he reached the turn, his one over had become 11 over.
06:58Ouch.
06:59Yeah.
06:59Ouch.
07:00And I guess, I mean, it feels incredibly harsh, isn't it?
07:02Because a penalty like that, ten shots, in a professional tournament is just going to
07:08effectively count you out, isn't it?
07:09You're not going to be able to recover from that.
07:12No, and that's exactly what he decided.
07:13He opted, didn't have to do this, but he opted to disqualify himself,
07:16because I guess he thought he had very little chance from that position.
07:19Yeah.
07:20But I guess it's one of the oldest rules in the book, you know, play it as it lies.
07:22Yeah.
07:22It wasn't doing anything that he thought was untoward.
07:25It wasn't, you know, trying to gain an advantage, but you are gaining an advantage in that scenario.
07:29So I guess there's, you know, it is what it is.
07:31It is what it is.
07:32And I guess the moral of the tale, if there is one, is always check the local rules.
07:41Yes.
07:42OK, Jed, so this one happened quite a few years ago now, twelve years ago.
07:46And it sticks in my mind very clearly, because I remember thinking at the time this was very
07:50harsh.
07:51Explain what happened.
07:52OK, so Stuart Sink is playing in the 2008 Zurich Classic.
07:55He's standing in a bunker to play a shot outside the bunker, which he then hits into another
08:01bunker 180 yards up the hole.
08:03His caddy rakes the bunker he was standing in, and that action subsequently led to him being
08:08disqualified.
08:09But you've got to rake a bunker if you just hit a shot in it.
08:12Well, unfortunately the rules of the tyre under rule 13-4 said you weren't allowed to
08:16test the condition of a hazard or a similar hazard.
08:18Right.
08:19That was deemed to be a similar hazard.
08:21Bunkers were hazards at the time, and therefore by raking it before he played the bunker shot
08:25further up the hole, that was what led to him being disqualified, because it didn't
08:30come to light until after he'd signed his card, therefore he'd signed for a wrong score.
08:34A wrong score.
08:34Ouch.
08:35Yes.
08:35That's a really tough break, but it actually led to a change in the rules.
08:40Yeah.
08:40Well, I think it was very soon afterwards the Joint Rules Committee of the USGA and the
08:45RNA changed things because they didn't want people to think, well, OK, how do I care for
08:50the course properly if I'm not allowed to do this for 180 yards, then got to walk back.
08:54So they changed it to allow that as long as you didn't improve the conditions affecting
08:59your stroke.
08:59And now, 12 years down the line, rule 12.2b kind of positively encourages you to care for
09:06the course to the extent that you could rake part of a bunker that isn't anywhere near
09:11where your ball is lying before you play the shot if it was for the purpose of caring for
09:15the course.
09:16Caring for the course, maintaining a good pace of play, all of those things.
09:20It all makes a difference now.
09:21Back in 2008, I guess it shows you that the rules of golf are constantly evolving, aren't
09:25they?
09:26They are evolving.
09:27They do listen to what's going on out there and sometimes very positive changes do happen.
09:37This one is the story of a six foot putt for birdie that ended up in a quadruple bogey.
09:42Guess what happened?
09:43Well, it also involved one of these blowing across at a very inopportune moment.
09:47And this is Matthew Southgate in the 2017 Web.com Tour Finals, the second to last event.
09:54He, as you say, had a six foot putt for birdie.
09:56The leaf blew across as the ball was on its way to the hole, knocked it offline.
10:02He tapped in with a…
10:03Thinking, that was unlucky.
10:05That was unlucky.
10:06And it turned out to be a lot more than unlucky because what he should actually have done
10:10is cancelled the stroke and replayed it.
10:13It was one of those very rare scenarios where you cancel the shot that you just hit.
10:19It doesn't happen very often in the rules.
10:21No.
10:21And so he carried on.
10:23He just tapped in.
10:24Carried on, tapped in for par, he thought.
10:26But rule 19.1b at the time, don't look it up because the rule numbers have changed since then,
10:31said that a ball in motion from a putt from on the putting green that's deflected by an outside agency,
10:37a leaf,
10:40must be replaced and replayed.
10:42The stroke must be cancelled and you must replay it.
10:44It wasn't an option.
10:45You had to.
10:46Because he didn't do that, he then played his next shot from a wrong place.
10:50That's a two shot penalty.
10:52And because none of this came fully to light until after he'd signed his card,
10:55there was another two shot penalty for signing for a wrong score.
10:59I think this is one of the most unfortunate rules incidents I can think of.
11:03Yes.
11:03But actually, to his credit, he took it on the chin very well, didn't he?
11:08He took it on the chin and blamed himself for not knowing the rules better, even though it ultimately was
11:12a major reason why he didn't get his PGA Tour card for the following season.
11:21Right, Jez, the next one, I remember very clearly watching this on TV.
11:25It was in the final round of the Waste Management.
11:26I think it was 2019.
11:28Yes.
11:28And it involved Ricky Fowler.
11:30It did.
11:30What happened?
11:32OK, well, it's the 11th hole last round, he's leading, and he's played a pitch that has just gone a
11:38bit too far, trundled off the back of the green and rolled into a penalty area.
11:41Right.
11:42So he's then taken a drop.
11:43Taken a drop at somewhere like this point here.
11:46On quite a steep slope.
11:48Yeah, on a steep slope.
11:49Ball has come to rest.
11:50He's then wandered up to the top of the bank to have a look at what he got to do.
11:55See what he's doing.
11:56And this is, I don't know, a few seconds, a minute later.
11:59He's standing at the top, and the ball suddenly moves and rolls back into the penalty area again.
12:04Ah.
12:05So, in normal circumstances, if this wasn't a penalty area behind me or behind him, he would be able to
12:11play that ball as it lies, right?
12:12Yeah, rule 9.3 would have deemed that because the ball had been at rest, any subsequent movement is via
12:19natural forces, and when that happens, you simply play the ball from its new spot.
12:23Ricky's problem was that the new spot was two feet underwater again.
12:28So, what did he have to do?
12:29So, it seems very harsh, and a lot of people were up in arms about it at the time, but
12:33he has no real option, if he can't play it as it lies, to take another penalty drop.
12:38Just, I guess, one of those fairly rare rules scenarios, but that just feels really harsh, really tough on somebody.
12:45You know, they're gaining absolutely no advantage.
12:48No.
12:48But the rules are there for a reason.
12:51And I think this happened not long after the new rules had come into force, and a lot of people
12:54were up in arms saying that the new rules are silly, this is madness, but this rule hadn't changed.
13:00This was how it was before, so this was nothing to do with the rules changes, it was just an
13:04incident that occurred not long after the changes had come in.
13:07Thankfully for Ricky.
13:08Yes.
13:09All forgotten now, because he went on, he won the tournament, not a problem, but that one really could have,
13:14in other circumstances, cost him really quite a lot.
13:17Yeah.
13:18So, there you have it, that's our look at the seven strangest rules incidents on tour.
13:22The last thing that I'll say to you guys is that if you haven't done already, please do hit the
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13:41But that's it for now.
13:42Thanks for watching.
13:43We'll see you next time.
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