Per Rule 21, the Rules Offi cial should have permitted
Rahm to clean his ball before dropping it.
Rahmifi cation #4: In stroke play, what recourse does
a player have when a Rules Offi cial renders an adverse
ruling?
Per Decision 3-3/2 [Second Ball Played Despite
Adverse Ruling], the answer depends upon whether or
not the Committee has given authority to its referees
to make fi nal decisions. If the referee concerned has
not been given authority to make fi nal decisions, then
the player is entitled to invoke Rule 3-3 [Doubt as to
Procedure]. Even if the referee concerned has been
given authority to make fi nal decisions, he still has
discretion to allow the player to proceed under Rule 3-3.
However, if the referee renders a fi nal decision, then
there is no justifi cation for the player to invoke Rule 3-3.
Under such circumstances, if the player goes ahead and
invokes Rule 3-3, he will be penalized two strokes for
undue delay per Rule 6-7 [Undue Delay; Slow Play],
and the score with the original ball, including the two-
stroke penalty, must count.
Now Open!
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