INSIDE THE RULES
By Chris Gaffney
A unique situation unfolded in early February at the Waste Management Open at TPC Scottsdale during the final round, most of us watching weren’t aware of until a hole later. The leader, Hideki Matsuyama, hit his ball into a sandy area next to a cart path on the par-5 15th hole and had what looked to be a tough lie and a bit of misfortune. A few inches over and he gets cart path relief; a few inches the other way, and he’s sitting on a nice piece of turf. Matsuyama never called over a Rules official and had to lay up. Although he went on to birdie the hole, one of the lone bright spots on his back nine, we learned something interesting a few minutes after he played the hole on the broadcast. Mark Dusbabeck, the PGA Tour’s chief referee, let the viewers know that the area would have been considered ground under repair and Matsuyama would’ve been entitled to free relief had he asked, because the sand was put down to repair damage from high traffic use. It was a surprising thing to hear on the broadcast because had he taken relief, there was potential to go for the green in two and bring eagle into play.
Rule 16 provides the player the option to take free relief from “abnormal course conditions,” which include animal holes, ground under repair, immovable obstructions, and temporary water. If any one of these interferes with a player’s lie, stance or swing, they are entitled to free relief. While it’s helpful to know the definition, like we saw with Matsuyama, there are certain scenarios that arise that require additional context from the Rules Committee to establish the status of a questionable area. In Matsuyama’s case, the lead official told the viewers that the area was ground under repair and the reasoning behind it (it’s a damaged area that’s in the process of being repaired – literally ground under repair). A non-ruling to remember and one that may have been consequential since he lost the tournament in a playoff to the Met Area’s own Chris Gotterup. The discourse around relief on the PGA Tour usually focuses on areas like temporary immovable obstructions and other abstract situations everyday golfers don’t see. Matsuyama’s scenario is much more common for the recreational golfer as we don’t always have a Rules official to tell us if we’re entitled to free relief and like Matsuyama, we often play the ball as it lies and move on.
This non-ruling brings a sharp contrast to what happened at the U.S. Open at Oakmont last year. Sam Burns found his ball in a wet area in the fairway and thought he might be entitled to free relief, so he called over a Rules official, who assessed the situation and decided that Burns wasn’t entitled to relief. As we learned from Matsuyama, there are situations that require assessment from the Rules Committee, so Burns made the right choice to ask for a ruling, and since he wasn’t satisfied with the initial ruling, he called for a second opinion. The opportunity to call for a second opinion is available for the player and is a welcome next step for all involved. The player gets a new look, and the Rules official gets a second set of eyes to review the situation. In many ways, this second opinion serves a similar function to the NFL sending the review of a call “to New York.” The golf official giving the second opinion is typically a senior member of the Rules team who will have final say. The big difference from the NFL review is that the second Rules official isn’t making a decision on whether or not to uphold the first decision; they’re providing their own assessment from a fresh perspective. The official coming in for a second opinion doesn’t know how the first official ruled and as a best practice, the original official will shift away from the conversation to allow the second official the new look. The second official in Burn’s instance similarly ruled that he was not entitled to relief – two separate rulings but ultimately the same outcome.
In both the Matsuyama and Burns situations, the Rules didn’t automatically step in; the players had to decide whether to involve an official. Burns asked for relief and was denied. Matsuyama didn’t ask and played the ball. That’s what makes golf different from so many other sports — there’s no automatic whistle or flag for these situations; it’s often on the player to decide whether to ask the question and then on the official to apply the Rules. It shows that knowing the Rules matters but knowing when to lean on them matters even more.