Sergio's Ruling on 18 - Sunday

[BC MIST]

Sergio wanted relief from a sprinkler head on 18 on Sunday, marked his nearest point of relief, the one club length and dropped the ball. It rolled forward of the line connecting the two tees so he redropped. The ball again rolled forward of the two tees, but this time he played the ball.

A related decision states in part, ..."The ball rolls and comes to rest nearer the hole than the NPR, but not nearer the hole than where it lay," by the sprinkler head. Must it be redropped. ANS. YES!!

While it may have been possible for the second drop, NOT to be ahead of the NPR, when the first drop actually was, even though they were both ahead of the tees, there was such little difference that, IMO, he should have placed the ball.

Any others see this??

[Pinshark]

I thought the same thing but....the angle we were looking at I wasn't able to tell exactly how far forward the ball rolled. But given your explantion of the rule he should have placed the ball.

[gbower]

I was wondering the same thing and even when they brought a rules official in nothing changed.
Rule 20-2c(vii)(a) has when to redrop in his situation and says:
(vii) rolls and comes to rest nearer the hole than:
(a)its original position or estimated position unless otherwise permitted by the rules

By looking at it I thought that maybe his tees weren't at the correct angle to be 90* to the hole and that his ball didn't roll forward of his original spot but from the camera angles I wasn't sure. The ball definitely rolled forward of where the tees were placed.

[Golfbum]

He must have done it properly, the Rules Official allowed it, as did his playing partner.
Yes it did look like it rolled forward on the second drop. Camera angles can be tricky when it comes to things like this.

[spackler]

The second drop was 2-3 inches behind the first drop as I remember, though definitely in front of the tee. I agree with BC and as I remember the coverage, the rules official didn't show up until AFTER Sergio had removed his marking tees. I would have erred on the side of caution if I was Sergio.

From what I understand, there was a more questionable drop on the 2nd hole where his FC questioned whether Sergio took complete relief from a drain. TV replays appeared to show Sergio playing his shot with his heels on the drain cover, after taking his relief from it.

[leftylucas]

Actually the ruling official received a call on his radio after Sergio removed his tee markers for relief from the sprinkler. There is not much they could do after he was given the green light by the on site official and removed the markers.

[DavidY]

When in doubt, wait for the rules official. Remember what had happened to Michelle Wie some time ago? I would have laughed my head off if Sergio got DQ because of this incident.

Dave

[Wknd_Warrior]

why is it neccessarry for these guys to drop within a millimeter of the required distance from the hole? What possible difference could it make? This always amazes me, why risk a rules infringment, you're over 200 yards out

[Kiwi battler]

Re relief from the drain , after finding NPR and dropping , once the ball is in play , the player is free to change shots , be it club , stance , or direction of play

Therefore , he may have "after dropping" decided to take a longer club which may have brought the drain back into the frame ...... he may or may not seek further relief from the drain

[BC MIST]

Actually the ruling official received a call on his radio after Sergio removed his tee markers for relief from the sprinkler. There is not much they could do after he was given the green light by the on site official and removed the markers.

Remember: Sergio is a graduate of the Seve Ballesteros School of Rules Interpretations.

[BC MIST]

When in doubt, wait for the rules official. Remember what had happened to Michelle Wie some time ago? I would have laughed my head off if Sergio got DQ because of this incident.

He would have been penalized two strokes for playing from a wrong place.

[BC MIST]

why is it neccessarry for these guys to drop within a millimeter of the required distance from the hole? What possible difference could it make? This always amazes me, why risk a rules infringment, you're over 200 yards out

Sergio was attempting to have the ball roll onto the cut portion of the fairway from which he would have been able to better control his next shot.

While his ball must hit the ground within the required 1 club length from the nearest point of relief, the ball can roll up to 2 more club lengths from where it hit, before he would have to re-drop.

[BC MIST]

Re relief from the drain , after finding NPR and dropping , once the ball is in play , the player is free to change shots , be it club , stance , or direction of play

Therefore , he may have "after dropping" decided to take a longer club which may have brought the drain back into the frame ...... he may or may not seek further relief from the drain

The only way that this would have been applicable would have seen him turning around and hit the ball back towards the tee.

[leftylucas]

I think that the mistake was caught remotely, the rules official was right there and told him that his drop was good and then Sergio removed the markers. As he was preparing to hit the rules official received the radio message that the drop may have been compromised. At that point there was nothing left to do since the markers had been removed from the drain area. Sergio hit, he did absolutely nothing wrong, the onsite rules official was the one who should have been more diligent in ensuring that the drop was correct.