Rule 24 covers Obstructions and what relief, if any, is available from them. The definition of an obstruction is basically anything artificial or man-made, and they fall into two categories: moveable and immovable. A moveable obstruction is something that can be removed without undue effort and an immovable obstruction is anything that can not be removed. Examples of a moveable obstruction would be a soda can, cigarette butt or plastic bag. All of these items can be removed easily. Examples of an immoveable obstruction include a tee sign, an irrigation box and, as Tiger Woods will attest to, the clubhouse.
In the second round of last year’s WGC Firestone Invitational Tiger Woods’ second shot from the rough on the ninth hole bounced off of the cart path and on to the clubhouse. The clubhouse was not considered out of bounds nor was it defined as an integral part of the course, so he was entitled to relief without penalty. The first thing they had to do was find the golf ball. Luckily, or possibly unluckily, someone found Tiger’s ball and he took relief. He and a rules official determined where his nearest point of relief that avoided interference from the lie of ball, area of his intended swing and stance from the clubhouse and was not closer to the hole. From this point he dropped the ball within one club-length and played on from there. He made bogey on the hole, but still ended up winning the event by one stroke.
It may seem odd to consider it possibly unlucky that his ball was found. Most people think that not finding his ball would have made it a lost ball and he would have to play under stroke and distance. However, the answer lies on page 67 of the Rules of Golf book. Rule 24-3 explains how to take relief from a ball that is lost in an immovable obstruction through the green. It states that the player must determine where the ball last crossed the outermost limits of the obstruction and take relief from that point. This would have placed Tiger’s drop closer to the green than where his ball had actually ended up since it was found. You always hear, “You can’t drop the ball there, it’s closer to the hole”. Well in this example Tiger would have been able to drop closer to the hole if his original ball was not found thanks to Rule 24.
Some players, fans and media all disagreed on how this ruling was handled and felt that if the player was anyone other than Tiger the ball would have been considered lost. But the rules official on the scene made a proper ruling. This is just another example on how the rules are in place to help the player, not hurt him.
