Golf Ball moved By Natural Forces?
It came barely weeks into the new 2019 rules – as rows were still raging over the knee-high drop and a caddie standing on an extension of the line.
At the Waste Management Open, in Phoenix in February 2019, Rickie Fowler was leading by five in the final round when his chip on the 11th ran through the green, round a bunker, and into the water.
The American took penalty area relief and dropped onto a steep bank – placing it after two initial efforts rolled into the water.
As Fowler walked up to the green to survey his next shot, his ball crept down the bank and back into the water. He took penalty relief again and went on to record a triple bogey.
It was a poor stroke of luck but the rules as they stood meant he had few other options at his disposal.
The incident didn’t just raise hell on social media, it caught the attention of rules chiefs at the R&A and USGA.
So when the 2023 Rules of Golf arrived, they made a change…
What did the old rule say about ball moved by natural forces?
Rule 9.3, Ball Moved by Natural Forces, said that if natural forces caused a player’s ball at rest to move, there was no penalty and the ball must be played from its new spot.
There was an exception where, if a ball on the putting green moved after the player had already lifted and replaced it, it had to be replaced on its original spot no matter what caused it to move.
What does the new rule say?
There is a new exception to Rule 9.3, which says that if a ball at rest is moved by natural forces after being dropped, placed, or replaced and “comes to rest in a different area of the course or out of bounds”, the ball must be replaced and played from its original spot.
