Before
Rules fans go screaming to Twitter and Facebook that the PGA Tour got it wrong,
let’s take a quick look at the situation Bill Haas just encountered on the 17th
hole at the Waste Management Phoenix Open - Phil Mickelson situation added.
What
we all saw was that Bill Haas’ ball came to rest near a fence that was close to
the water hazard on the left hand side.
We were told that his ball had come to rest in the hazard and that he
would get relief for the fence so long as he dropped in the hazard. “Wait a minute,” I can hear all of your
cogs turning wondering how he gets relief for an immovable obstruction when his
ball lies in a water hazard. Rule
24-2 does state that a player is not entitled to relief for interference by an
immovable obstruction when the ball lies in a water hazard. The fence, however, was not an
immovable obstruction but a temporary
immovable obstruction. We can find
the local Rule for handling temporary immovable obstructions at Appendix I-B-7.
Clause
III of the Local Rule for Temporary Immovable Obstructions grants relief for
interference by a TIO when a ball lies in a hazard with the caveat that in
order to take relief without penalty the ball must be dropped within the
hazard.
Had
Haas desired to drop and take relief outside the water hazard he could have done
so under penalty of one stroke.
Whether he was going to take relief without penalty or with penalty, the
procedure was virtually the same.
He was required to find his nearest point of relief as defined by the local Rule and drop a ball within one club-length of that point. To avoid penalty he must find the NPR
inside the water hazard, for relief under penalty of one stroke he would find
the NPR outside the water hazard.
This is one situation where the standard “penalized relief is two club-lengths
and relief without penalty is one club-length” does not hold true.
In
Haas’ case he was able to find a spot he could drop still within the margin of
the hazard and take relief from the fence without penalty.
As
the first part of this article was being written, Phil Mickelson hit his shot
from the 18th tee into the grandstands on the left hand side. The announcers incorrectly stated that
he would be getting relief for “line of sight.” Unfortunately, there is no such thing as “line of sight” in
the Rules of Golf. As you’ll see
below, one difference between immovable obstructions as defined in the Rules
and temporary immovable obstructions is that interference for a TIO occurs when
a player has interference on his line of play (you can also get relief for a
TIO that lies out of bounds, whereas immovable artificial objects that define
or lie out of bounds are not obstructions and you are not entitled to relief).
Although Phil did not have direct interference (lie of ball, stance or area of
intended swing) he did have interference on his line of play and was therefore
entitled to relief. Note 3 to the
Relief clause of the local Rule permits the Committee to use dropping zones as
either required or as an option for relief from a TIO as we saw with Phil’s
situation.
Temporary Immovable Obstructions (App. I-B-7):
II. Interference
Interference by a TIO occurs when (a) the ball lies in front
of and so close to the TIO that the TIO interferes with the player’s stance or
the area of his intended swing, or (b) the ball lies in, on, under or behind
the TIO so that any part of the TIO intervenes directly between the player’s
ball and the hole and is on his line of play; interference also exists if the
ball lies within one club-length of a spot equidistant from the hole where such
intervention would exist.
Note: A ball is under the TIO when it is below the outermost
edges of the TIO, even if these edges do not extend downwards to the ground.
III. Relief
A player may obtain relief from interference by a TIO,
including a TIO that is out of bounds, as follows:
(a)Through the Green: If the ball lies through the green,
the point on the course nearest to where the ball lies must be determined that
(a) is not nearer the hole, (b) avoid interference as defined in Clause II and
(c) is not in a hazard or on a putting green. The player must lift the ball and drop it, without penalty,
within one club-length of the point so determined on a part of the course that
fulfills (a), (b) and (c) above.
(b) In a Hazard:
If the ball is in a hazard, the player must lift and drop the ball
either:
(i) Without
penalty, in accordance with Clause III(a) above, except that the nearest part
of the course affording complete relief must be in a hazard and the ball must
be dropped in the hazard or, if complete relief is impossible, on a part of the
course within the hazard that affords maximum available relief; or
(ii) Under
penalty of one stroke, outside the hazard as follows: the point on the course
nearest to where the ball lies must be determined that (a) is not nearer the
hole, (b) avoids interference as defined in Clause II and (c) is not in a
hazard. The player must drop the
ball within one club-length of the point so determined on a part of the course
that fulfills (a), (b) and (c) above.
The ball may be cleaned when lifted under Clause III.
No comments:
Post a Comment