If an apple falls on a Tiger while in a Buick
Mulligan is mulli-gone from his computer this week, and he has asked me to post these questions for him:
What would have happened if the flying apple thrown by some specatator had hit Tiger's putt on 17 while it was moving and prevented it from going toward the hole? Would Tiger have been allowed to putt over? If not, what would have been the correct ruling?
I don't know the answers.
5 Comments:
It is funny that Mulligan asks this question, because Tiger would get a "Mulligan" and get to hit the putt over.
Rule 19-1b provides:
If a ball in motion is accidentally deflected or stopped by any outside agency, it is a rub of the green, there is no penalty and the ball must be played as it lies except:
* * * (b) If a ball in motion after a stroke on the putting green is deflected or stopped by, or comes to rest in or on, any moving or animate outside agency except a worm or an insect, the stroke is canceled. The ball must be replaced and the stroke replayed.
If the ball is not immediately recoverable, another ball may be substituted.
The decisions do not have anything specific, but do deal with the dog which comes in and picks up your ball in motion... Decision 19-1/7 states:
Q. A player plays a stroke on the putting green and, while the ball is still in motion, it is picked up and carried away, or is deflected, by a dog. What is the ruling?
A. In either case, the stroke is canceled and the ball must be replaced — Rule 19-1b.
Thus, I would assume that Tiger would have been able to replay the stroke.
Not to pile on the rule junk, but one other scenario would be if his ball hit another opponents' ball. 2-stroke penalty in stroke play for El Tigre, play it as it lies (no penalty) in match play.
Which brings up last weekend where my foursome skunked the field in a scramble and discussed golf rules over margaritas at the dinner table post-match. I was shocked that if I fire an iron into my opponents' bag, I can play it as it lies in stroke play and take a mulligan in match play. I'll have remember that in case i have a Tin Cup moment, and want to take it off the Porta-Potty into my opponents' golf bag, and throw him off his game.
Better question... what would happen if Tiger hit a ball into the fans and it did not bounce back out on the fairway or land between clumps of forest with a clear shot at the green?
What is the ruling as to how long you are allowed to look for a lost ball in a tournament?
If Tiger stopped playing golf tomorrow, how long would it take for him to be knocked off the No. 1 spot?
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