rulespin
by Paul Kruger
check, please
During the opening round of
the 2015 PGA Championship at
Whistling Straits, on the second
hole, Zach Johnson found his ball
in a fairway bunker. Zach asked
for assistance from a Rules Official
because he wanted to remove an
object near his ball that appeared to
be a stone.
Normally, there would no issue
with a stone in a bunker. In stroke
play, if a player touches or moves a
loose impediment, such as a stone,
in a bunker when his ball is situated
in the same bunker, the player
is penalized two strokes per Rule
13-4 [Ball in Hazard; Prohibited
Actions]. That Rule advises, in part,
“Except as provided in the Rules,
before making a stroke at a ball that
is in a hazard (whether a bunker or
a water hazard) … the player must
not … c. Touch or move a loose
impediment lying in or touching the
hazard.”
So, why did Zach seek a ruling?
Because, the following Local
Rule was in effect for this event:
“Stones in bunkers are movable
obstructions (Rule 24-1 applies).”
Rule 24-1 [Movable
Obstruction] points
out that “A player
may take relief,
without
penalty,
from a movable
obstruction
as
follows: a. If the ball
does not lie in or
on the obstruction,
the obstruction may
be removed. If the
ball moves, it must
be replaced, and
there is no penalty,
provided that the
movement of the
ball is directly attributable to the
removal of the obstruction.”
Zach was not sure if the object
near his ball was a stone or just a
small clump of sand that looked like
a stone. That uncertainty put him
between the proverbial “rock and
a hard place.” If he risked picking
up the object and it turned out to
be a stone, then he would not be
penalized because the stone was, by
Local Rule, a movable obstruction.
However, if the object turned out
to be a clump of sand, then he
would incur a two-stroke penalty
for touching a loose impediment
in a hazard. See Decision 23/12
[Aeration Plugs] which points out
that plugs of compacted soil are
loose impediments. After the Rules
Official clarified the two possible
outcomes, Zach elected to play the
ball as it lay, rather than taking the
chance of picking up the object and
watching it crumble in his hands.
In that particular situation,
Zach risked incurring a penalty
if he wanted to check the object
to determine if it was a stone or a
loose impediment. In many other
situations, the Ru \