Ball accidentally deflected
aniel Sommerville, R&A Rules manager, looks at two recent incidents out on tour where players’ golf balls struck them or their caddies accidentally, something which the Rules of Golf now deal with differently as a result of the 2019 Rules revisions.
During the final round of the PGA Tour’s Wyndham Championship, Paul Casey found trouble on the 10th hole when his drive ended up in a fairway bunker 150 yards short of the green. With his ball in a reasonably playable lie, Casey decided to go for the green but failed to get the ball elevated quickly enough. It caught the face of the bunker and
Drebounded back towards him, hitting him on the leg. Thomas Pieters also found himself in a similar situation in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth. During the final round, he found the penalty area with his drive from the 18th tee but decided to take the shot on. Unfortunately, Pieters failed to get the ball high enough and it deflected off one of the wooden sleepers, striking his caddie.
Under the previous Rules, if a player’s ball was accidentally deflected or stopped by the player or their caddie, he or she would have incurred a one-stroke penalty, but as this was one of the changes to the 2019 Rules, Casey and Pieters avoided the additional penalty and were simply required to play the ball from its new position.
Under Rule 11.1, if a player’s ball in motion accidentally hits any person, there is no penalty and the ball must be played as it lies. This is true even if the ball hits the player, the opponent, any other player or any of their caddies or equipment.