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Did Tiger drop the ball correctly?
James McAfee |
It seems pretty clear when you read Rule 20 about how a player should drop a ball: “A ball to be dropped under the rules must be dropped by the player himself. He must stand erect, hold the ball at shoulder height and arm’s length and drop it.”
I have to admit that sometimes I have been guilty of not paying enough attention and may have not dropped the ball correctly. I’ve seen a lot of other golfers do the same, even casually throwing a ball down.
While watching the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines on television, my good friend Dick Chapman, who used to work as an official with me at tournaments in North Texas, noticed that Tiger Woods appeared to hold the ball way above shoulder height when he was making a drop to get relief from a cart path.
“When the ball rolled closer to the hole, Woods repeated the drop and again held the ball higher than he should have,” Chapman said. “It rolled closer to the hole. Then he was able to pick up the ball and place it on the spot where it first struck a part of the course.”
That was the correct procedure since there was no rules official nearby as there is sometimes to point out that exact spot. Woods got up a down in this particular instance and went on to win his seventh straight PGA Tour title.
“I even thought about calling to ask about this situation,” Chapman said.
When everyone else was so concerned that Michelle Wie dropped the ball closer to the hole in her pro debut in 2005, I noticed that she dropped the ball with her arm extended out just above her waist, not at shoulder height.
Do players purposely try to ensure that the re-dropped balls roll into one of these conditions so they can get their hands on the ball? While professionals like it when this happens since they likely will get a better lie than taking a chance on where the ball might roll, I do not think they purposely violate the rule of exerting influence on the ball. However, subconsciouly, they certainly hope that the two drops result in them getting to place the ball.
Let’s read a little more about the proper procedures to follow when you drop a ball and when to maybe re-drop it:
“If a player allows someone else to drop the ball or if he does not follow the proper procedure, then he is subject to a penalty stroke if it is not corrected before he plays the next stroke.”
If so, then it seems obvious that an alert rules official could have penalized both Woods and Wie a penalty shot for not dropping the ball from shoulder height or could have warned them to re-drop correctly before playing a shot.
If the dropped ball touches the player, his partner, either of their caddies or their equipment before or after it strikes a part of the course, the ball must be re-dropped without penalty. There is no limit on the number of times the ball must be re-dropped under these circumstances.
Other cases besides rolling closer to the hole than where the original ball lay where the ball must be re-dropped without penalty include rolling into or out of a hazard, out of bounds, on putting green, more than two club lengths or back into the position where the interference occurred.
If this happens a second time, the player then must place the ball as near as possible to where it first struck a part of the course just like Woods did.
If dropped more than twice and then played, the player is subject to a two-stroke penalty.
If the ball is not immediately recoverable like when it rolls back into a water hazard, the player may substitute another ball without penalty.
In some cases, the touring pros will have their caddies positioned behind the red or yellow stakes to catch the ball before it is not recoverable. However, the caddies need to be careful not to react too quickly and touch the ball before it crosses the lines.
When measuring, a player is entitled to use any club, even one
of the long putters. However, he can not then use a shorter club to measure to see if it rolled outside the two club lengths. Also, remember that there is no penalty if the player happens to move the ball when measuring.
A player has to be careful when taking relief under all circumstances, making sure to take full relief.
I can recall how Payne Stewart dropped his ball after taking relief from a cart path, but his heel was still on the path when he took his stance. That resulted in a two-stroke penalty. He should have re-dropped the ball.
Another thing to remember is that there is no distinction between rough and fairway. A player taking relief in the rough can actually drop in the fairway as long as it is within the prescribed limits. |
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