Written by: Darin Green, Senior Director of Rules & Competitions
The Memorial Championship is always a great tournament to watch on television. The course is a great test for the players and always seems to create excitement on Sunday. This year it seemed liked the back nine on Sunday was going to walk in the park for Jon Rahm as he held a large lead on standing on the 10th tee. Rahm then proceeded to bogey the 10th and double-bogey the 11th.
Rahm held a three-shot lead on the difficult par three 16th hole when his tee shot found the deep rough just over the green. Then in Tiger Woods-like fashion he played a delicate flop shot that landed softy on the green and trickled into the hole. His lead went to four strokes with just two holes remaining. Then during replays of that miraculous shot, a zoomed in camera shot showed the ball move when Rahm was addressing the ball. Now, let us take a look at the ruling and the appropriate penalty.
When the modified Rules of Golf were released in 2019, there were two new common instances where a player can accidentally move their ball without penalty. Those two circumstances are if you accidentally move your ball when it lies on the putting green or while you are searching for it. Rahm was neither searching for it and his ball was not on the putting green. Rule 9.4 Ball Lifted or Moved by Player states that if it is known or virtually certain that the player, the player’s partner, or the player’s caddie caused the ball to move then the player receives a one-stroke penalty. So, why did Rahm receive a two-stroke penalty?
Rule 9.4 states a ball moved by the player is one-stroke penalty, but it also says the ball must be replaced. At the end of Rule 9.4 the penalty statement is:
Penalty for Playing Ball from a Wrong Place in Breach of Rule 9.4: General Penalty under Rule 14.7a (The General Penalty in stroke play is two-strokes)
Rahm’s ball moved slightly when he was addressing it and he did not attempt to replace it, so he played from a wrong place incurring the General Penalty. It does not matter that he did not see the ball move, or that the movement of the ball was minimal. Luckily, Rahm’s lead was large enough that he thought he walked off the 18th green with a five shot victory, but he quickly was informed by the Rules Officials that he only won by three shots.
A common question is why is it a two stroke penalty and not a total of three (one for moving the ball and two for playing from a wrong place). This is where it starts to get complicated. The short answer is see Rule 1.3c(4) which deals when a single or related act breaches more than one Rules. In Rahm's situation, Rule 1.3c(4) tells us to apply the higher of two penalties.
I was asked about Rahm’s aggressive nature of addressing the ball and improving his lie. A discussion could be had about whether or not Rahm improved his lie when he was addressing the ball in the rough. It can be seen in the video that Rahm was pushing down some grass when he was addressing the ball. The Rules allow you to place the club head in front or behind the ball and the weight of the club may push some grass down; however, you may not use more force push the grass down to improve your lie.
