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