The CSGA Links Volume 5 Issue 1 April 2017 | Page 48

RULES
RULES CORNER
CORNER
Hatton’s Headache in Austin
I
n the group stage of the PGA Tour’s WGC-Dell
Technologies Match Play Championship last
Friday at Austin (Texas) Country Club, Tyrrell
Hatton was competing in a three-man sudden-
death playoff to determine who would advance to
the Round of 16.
On the putting green of the first extra hole, Hatton
was preparing to putt for par when he grounded
his putter behind his ball and caused it to move. In
the past, Hatton would have incurred a one-stroke
penalty and replaced his ball before playing his next
stroke. However, the PGA Tour adopted the new Local
Rule, which the USGA and The R&A implemented
on Jan. 1, 2017, giving the Committee the option to
eliminate the penalty for accidental movement of a
ball on the putting green.
The Local Rule still requires that the ball, when
accidentally moved on the putting green, be
replaced in its original location if the player caused
the movement. In this case, Hatton caused the ball’s
movement, so he needed to replace it, without
penalty, before playing his next stroke. However,
since Hatton played the ball from its new location,
he incurred a penalty for playing from a wrong place
(Rule 20-7).
The penalty for playing from a wrong place is loss
of hole in match play or two strokes in stroke play.
Interestingly, even though this WGC event was
conducted at match play, any playoff with three
or more players was conducted under stroke-play
rules. Therefore, Hatton was penalized two strokes,
turning his par into a double bogey and opening the
door for Charles Howell III to advance to the Round
of 16.
48 | CSGA Links // April, 2017
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