Ball Not Found In Three Minutes

Chris Wallace, Rules manager at The R&A, discusses Bryson Dechambeau’s bad break during the second round of the 2020 Masters, when his tee shot on Augusta’s 3rd hole plugged in an area of thick rough. This set off a chain of events that would result in a lost ball, a return to the teeing area under penalty of stroke and distance and eventually a triple-bogey seven.

Dechambeau’s drive on the short par 4 landed in the rough short and left of the green without looking like it was in any real trouble. However, the combination of very soft ground following a deluge the day before and the lack of spectators prompted a long and unsuccessful search.

A ball is lost if it is not found in three minutes, and although the ball-spotters and nearby marshals had already begun to search for Dechambeau’s ball well before he arrived, the three-minute clock only starts when either the player or their caddie begins to search for it in the area where they believe the ball to be lost.

Despite the best efforts of the players, caddies, marshals and Rules officials, the three minutes expired and Dechambeau’s only option was to return to the tee under penalty of stroke and distance and play his third shot.

Before returning to the teeing area, however, Dechambeau questioned a Rules official about whether his ball could be lost in a small area of temporary water left over from the heavy rain close to where the ball search had taken place.

Under Rule 16.1e, if a player’s ball has not been found, but it is known or virtually certain that it came to rest in an abnormal course condition (ACC) on the course, the player may take free relief instead of taking stroke-and-distance relief.

This means that if Dechambeau had conclusive evidence that his ball was lost in that area (for example, someone seeing the ball land and come to rest in that specific area of temporary water), he would have been able to take free relief under Rule 16.1b. He would have needed to use the estimated point where the ball last crossed the edge of the temporary water for the purpose of finding the nearest point of complete relief, before dropping a ball within one clublength of that spot.

However, as no one had seen precisely where the ball landed, it was not known or virtually certain that it came to rest in the temporary water and the ball was lost, meaning he was required to take stroke-and-distance relief under Rule 18.2.

Lost Ball Essentials

A ball is lost if not found in three minutes

If it is not known or virtually certain the ball came to rest in an ACC, the ball is lost

If it is known or virtually certain the ball is in an ACC but it can’t be found, free relief is available