Rule 20-1 [Lifting and Marking]
is the applicable Rule and it states,
in relevant part, “If a ball or ballmarker is accidentally moved in the
process of lifting the ball under a
Rule or marking its position, the ball
or ball-marker must be replaced.
There is no penalty, provided
the movement of the ball or ballmarker is directly attributable to the
specific act of marking the position
of or lifting the ball.”
In Decision 20-1/6 [Ball-Marker
Moved Accidentally by Player in
Process of Marking Position of
Ball], a player, just like Zander
Lombard, marked the position of
his ball with a coin, pressed down
the coin with the sole of his putter,
only to find that his ball-marker had
stuck to the bottom of his putter.
Here is what Decision 20-1/6
advises under these circumstances:
“In this case, the movement of
the ball-marker was directly
attributable to the specific act of
marking the position of the ball.
Accordingly, no penalty is incurred
and the ball or ball-marker must be
replaced. If the spot where the ball
or the ball-marker lay is not known,
it must be placed as near as possible
to where it lay but not nearer the
hole….”
Also during the second round,
Phil Mickelson required the
assistance of a Rules Official after
he had replaced his ball on the 12th
putting green. As Phil was picking
up the coin marking the position
of his ball, he accidentally touched
his ball with the coin thereby
causing his ball to move. In this
case, Phil was permitted to replace
his ball with no penalty. Rule 203a [Placing and Replacing] states,
in relevant part, “If a ball … is
accidentally moved in the process
of … replacing the ball, the ball
… must be replaced. There is no
penalty provided the movement of
the ball … is directly attributable to
the specific act of … removing the
ball-marker.”
Decision 20-1/15 [Meaning
of “Directly Attributable” in
Rules 20-1 and 20-3a] offers the
following guidance to aid in the
interpretation of what is meant by
the phrase “directly attributable”
in Rule 20-3a: “In Rule 20-3a the
phrase means the specific act of …
lifting the ball-marker such that the
player’s hand … or the lifting of
the ball-marker causes the ball …
to move.”
When Phil attempted to replace
his ball on the spot from which it
had moved, surprisingly, his ball
would not remain at rest on that
spot. Rule 20-3d [Placing and
Replacing: Ball Fails to Come
to Rest on Spot] to the rescue!
Pursuant to that Rule, the Rules
Official advised Phil to attempt to
once again replace his ball on the
aforementioned spot. When that
second attempt failed, then Phil
was allowed to place his ball at
the nearest spot where it could be
placed at rest that was not nearer
the hole and not in a hazard.