Kuchar and an Immoveable Obstruction
Those who watched Saturday's golf action saw Matt Kuchar trying to get relief from an immovable obstruction on the 16th hole.
His ball was against a rock wall which was declared an integral part of the course. But, when taking a stance his left foot was on an irrigation pipe, which is an immovable obstruction. Normally, a player gets relief from an IO in the form of 1 club length from the nearest point of relief. However, the rules official would not allow free relief. A second official was called in and once again, free relief was not permitted and Matt had to declare his ball unplayable for which the penalty was one stroke.
For the non rules aficionados, why was relief from the drain aipe, an immovable obstruction, not granted?