Rahm avoids a penalty

JON Rahm wasn’t penalised on his way to victory in the final round of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open because of new directives aimed at lessening the impact of video technology in the game.

Following the controversy surrounding Lexi Thompson’s four-shot penalty during the ANA Inspiration in April, golf’s governing bodies announced a new two-part rules decision to allow officials more flexibility in certain situations.

A joint statement from the R&A and USGA said players “should not be held to the degree of precision that can sometimes be provided by video technology” on matters of location such as “determining the nearest point of relief or replacing a lifted ball”.

It added: “So long as the player does what can reasonably be expected under the circumstances to make an accurate determination, the player’s reasonable judgement will be accepted, even if later shown to be wrong by the use of video evidence.”

Rahm appeared to incorrectly replace his ball on the sixth green after moving it out of the way of Daniel Im but was not penalised after speaking to chief referee Andy McFee on the 13th.

“One of the points in the new decision is the outcome depends a lot on what the player says and his explanation of the events,” McFee said.

“He said I knew I marked it to the side and then I was trying to make an effort to put it back. He’s made the effort.

“We’re talking about the difference between the ball being lifted at 10 o’clock on the ball mark and put back at 11 o’clock, which is not a problem. Has he got it back in exactly the right place? No. But has he got it back in a place that’s good enough.”

Rahm said: “I knowingly put my marker on the side of my ball.”

Andy Murray raises a smile during practice.