By John Van der Borght, USGA
Lake Orion, Mich. – Corey Pavin’s tee shot on the par-3
fifth hole at the U.S. Senior Open (his 14th hole) came to rest in the rough
behind the green. From there he played a chip shot to just beyond the hole. A
television replay showed that his ball had moved after he addressed it.
Pavin thought his ball had oscillated and returned to its
original position. Unfortunately it did not return to the original position. The
Definition of a Ball
Deemed to Moved says that if the ball comes to rest in a new position it is
deemed to have moved. Had the ball returned to its original position, Decision
18/2 (Ball Oscillates During Address) states there would be no penalty.
Rule 18-2b
(Ball at Rest Moved ; Ball Moving After Address) says that if a ball moves after address, the
player is penalized one stroke and must replace the ball. If he fails to
replace the ball, the penalty becomes a loss of hole in match play or two
strokes in stroke play. Since Pavin did not replace his ball, he incurred the
full two-stroke penalty.
Pavin viewed the video after the round and agreed that the
ball had moved and not just oscillated. The two-stroke penalty changed his
score from 65 to 67.
For more information
on the Rules of Golf, go to the Rules of Golf page at http://www.usga.org or watch the Rules of Golf videos at http://www.usga-rules.com/.
John Van der Borght is a manager of Rules communications.