Ball comes to rest against person

As we get used to again seeing fans at PGA Tour events, the players also continue to re-familiarise themselves with spectator interaction. Chris Wallace, Rules manager at The R&A, discusses an incident during the Wells Fargo Championship when Kramer Hickok’s wayward drive came to rest on a downslope against the back of a seated fan.

Rule 11 covers what to do if the player’s ball in motion hits a person, animal, equipment or anything else on the course. When this happens accidentally, there is no penalty and the player normally must accept the result, whether favourable or not, and play the ball from wherever it comes to rest.

If, however, a ball comes to rest against a person or an outside influence and the person then moves (causing the ball to also move), Rule 9 applies, and the player must get the ball back in play by replacing it on its original spot without penalty. This was the case for Hickok, whose ball rolled down the slope as soon as the spectator moved away.

Under the guidance of the Rules official, before asking the spectator to move, Hickok first marked the position of the ball using a tee, so he had an exact reference point on which to replace the ball in the event of it moving. Although this is not a requirement under the Rule itself, it is always good practice to do so in order to be as accurate as possible.

In Hickok’s situation, the ruling was straightforward as, once the ball moved, he was simply directed to replace his ball on the spot where it had come to rest (which he had already marked).

Luckily, given that the ball was in the rough, it stayed on the exact spot once he had replaced it. However, this is not always the case. If Hickok had tried to replace the ball but it had not stayed on its original spot, he would have been required to attempt to replace it a second time under Rule 14.2e. If the ball again did not stay on that spot, he would have been required to replace it on the nearest spot where it would have stayed at rest that was no nearer the hole and in the general area.

Although most of us play without the added pressure of spectators, it is always useful to know, as the same procedure applies when a ball comes to rest against any person, animal or other equipment on the course.