Rules of golf

January 18th, 2025

Akshay Bhatia mistakenly hits ball that was out-of-bounds, becomes latest victim of not reading local rules closely enough

Akshay Bhatia, article, DP World Tour, Emirates Golf Club, golf digest, Hero Dubai Desert Classic, News, Rules of Golf

January 16th, 2025

Rules Review: I keep watching this guy sole his club in front of his ball. Is that legal?

Rule 8.1b(4) explains that an action that is allowed is to ground the club lightly right in front of or right behind the ball.

January 3rd, 2025

Rules Review: My ball lies on some dirt an animal dug up while making a den. Do I get free relief?

Where things can get a little confusing is defining the boundaries of an animal hole.

December 19th, 2024

Rules Review: The difference between taking a stance and building a stance

You might wonder why Matt Fitzpatrick was allowed to hit this shot from his knees.

December 12th, 2024

Rules Review: My opponent used his wrench tool on his driver before teeing off. Is that allowed?

Customisation of clubs to meet your individual needs is one of the great advances in golf technology.

December 5th, 2024

Rules Review: The greens at your course are in rough shape. Here’s what you can do – and can’t – to make them better

November 28th, 2024

Rules Review: I see golfers who look like they are anchoring their putters. What’s the rule on that again?

In the case of those golfers at your club who hold the putter strangely, let’s review Rule 10.1b and see if they’re in violation of it.

November 21st, 2024

Rules Review: My partner wants to concede a hole to our opponents, but I don’t. What happens now?

Under Rule 3.2b, a concession is made when it’s communicated clearly by anyone in a match.

November 14th, 2024

Rules Review: I know I get three minutes to find my ball. But what if my search is interrupted?

In most instances, the clock does stop and you get to resume your search with whatever time is remaining from when you halted the search. But in other cases, it’s not quite that simple.

November 9th, 2024

Tour pro disqualified in Mexico for this unusual violation of provisional ball rule

The PGA Tour said Emilio Gonzalez failed to make a “reasonable effort” to identify his ball once it was found and continued to play a provisional.

Rules Review: I know there’s a 14-club limit, but can I carry an extra driver head if I only use one?

Seven easy ways to use the Rules of Golf to lower your scores, according to a rules expert

Rules Review: I rubbed the green with my hand to see if it was wet. My opponent says that’s a penalty. True?

Rules Review: It drives me crazy when my opponent puts a marker in front of his ball on the green. Can you do that?

Rules Review: My opponent is way up in our match but must leave early and offers to call it a draw. Should I accept?

Rules Review: I’m in a lousy bunker. Can I probe the sand to make sure I’m don’t hit something that damages my club?

September 19th, 2024

Rules Review: My friend still uses a ‘chipper’ club. Are they legal?

Chippers like the one you see here comply with equipment rules and can be used in competition. Where you might get confused is that it’s against the rules to use a “two-way” chipper.

September 12th, 2024

Rules Review: Is it a penalty to brush sand that’s on your line near the green?

Sand is not considered a loose impediment unless it’s on the green.

September 5th, 2024

Rules Review: Are you allowed to do that? Take our latest rules quiz and find out

We’ve put together our latest 10-question quiz to take you through some potentially confusing but not uncommon situations on the golf course.

Rules of Golf Review: I want to grab a ball in a penalty area to see if it’s mine. But how do you mark a ball under water?

August 29th, 2024

Rules Review: I want to grab a ball in a penalty area to see if it’s mine. But how do you mark a ball under water?

As always, there’s an answer in the Rules of Golf for this watery situation.

August 27th, 2024

Matt Fitzpatrick was denied the chance to replace his cracked driver. Was that the correct call?

Fitzpatrick’s displeasure was understandable. But was the call correct under the rules?

Rules of Golf Review: My ball plugged in the sand. Can I take an unplayable and drop outside the bunker?

August 15th, 2024

Rules Review: My ball plugged in the sand. Can I take an unplayable and drop outside the bunker?

A fried-egg or nearly completely buried lie might give you pause as to what to do next, especially if you have a high lip in front of you. Can you get under the ball enough with your sand wedge to loft it out of the bunker? It’s a dilemma that might leaving you wondering about your options.

Leaderboard

The American Express - 2025

Pos	Player	Tot	Thru	Rnd
1	Sepp Straka	-25	F	4
2	Justin Thomas	-23	F	4
T3	Jason Day	-22	F	4
T3	Justin Lower	-22	F	4
T5	Patrick Cantlay	-20	F	4
T5	Charley Hoffman	-20	F	4
T7	Max Greyserman	-19	F	4
T7	Ben Griffin	-19	F	4
T7	Taylor Moore	-19	F	4
T7	Camilo Villegas	-19	F	4
11	Alex Smalley	-18	F	4
T12	Frankie Capan III	-17	F	4
T12	Beau Hossler	-17	F	4
T12	Mark Hubbard	-17	F	4
T12	J.T. Poston	-17	F	4
T12	Nick Taylor	-17	F	4
T12	Will Zalatoris	-17	F	4
T18	Cam Davis	-16	F	4
T18	Trey Mullinax	-16	F	4
T18	Kevin Roy	-16	F	4
T21	Daniel Berger	-15	F	4
T21	Jacob Bridgeman	-15	F	4
T21	Rickie Fowler	-15	F	4
T21	Doug Ghim	-15	F	4
T21	Harry Hall	-15	F	4
T21	Billy Horschel	-15	F	4
T21	Ben Kohles	-15	F	4
T21	Keith Mitchell	-15	F	4
T29	Sam Burns	-14	F	4
T29	Tom Hoge	-14	F	4
T29	Vincent Norrman	-14	F	4
T29	J.J. Spaun	-14	F	4
T29	Car Young	-14	F	4
T34	Quade Cummins	-13	F	4
T34	Nick Dunlap	-13	F	4
T34	Brice Garnett	-13	F	4
T34	Lanto Griffin	-13	F	4
T34	Harry Higgs	-13	F	4
T34	Lee Hodges	-13	F	4
T34	Chris Kirk	-13	F	4
T34	Ryan Palmer	-13	F	4
T34	Victor Perez	-13	F	4
T43	Ricky Castillo	-12	F	4
T43	Harris English	-12	F	4
T43	Ryo Hisatsune	-12	F	4
T43	Rikuya Hoshino	-12	F	4
T43	Michael Kim	-12	F	4
T43	Matt Kuchar	-12	F	4
T43	Matteo Manassero	-12	F	4
T43	Sam Ryder	-12	F	4
T51	Brian Campbell	-11	F	4
T51	Ryan Gerard	-11	F	4
T51	S.W. Kim	-11	F	4
T51	Matthew Riedel	-11	F	4
T51	Brandt Snedeker	-11	F	4
T51	Sam Stevens	-11	F	4
T51	Davis Thompson	-11	F	4
T58	Rico Hoey	-10	F	4
T58	Mackenzie Hughes	-10	F	4
T58	Kurt Kitayama	-10	F	4
T58	Taylor Montgomery	-10	F	4
T58	Alejandro Tosti	-10	F	4
T58	Kris Ventura	-10	F	4
T64	Jeremy Paul	-9	F	4
T64	Vince Whaley	-9	F	4
T66	Will Gordon	-8	F	4
T66	Joe Highsmith	-8	F	4
T68	Eric Cole	-7	F	4
T68	Mac Meissner	-7	F	4
70	Patrick Rodgers	-6	F	4
71	Chez Reavie	-5	F	4
CUT	Joel Dahmen	-8	F	3
CUT	Nate Lashley	-8	F	3
CUT	Luke List	-8	F	3
CUT	Chandler Phillips	-8	F	3
CUT	Chad Ramey	-8	F	3
CUT	Michael Thorbjornsen	-8	F	3
CUT	Norman Xiong	-8	F	3
CUT	Kevin Yu	-8	F	3
CUT	Tony Finau	-7	F	3
CUT	Chris Gotterup	-7	F	3
CUT	Zach Johnson	-7	F	3
CUT	Takumi Kanaya	-7	F	3
CUT	Patton Kizzire	-7	F	3
CUT	Jake Knapp	-7	F	3
CUT	K.H. Lee	-7	F	3
CUT	Francesco Molinari	-7	F	3
CUT	Andrew Putnam	-7	F	3
CUT	Isaiah Salinda	-7	F	3
CUT	Tim Widing	-7	F	3
CUT	Blades Brown	-6	F	3
CUT	Nico Echavarria	-6	F	3
CUT	Noah Goodwin	-6	F	3
CUT	Adam Hadwin	-6	F	3
CUT	Sungjae Im	-6	F	3
CUT	Chan Kim	-6	F	3
CUT	Tom Kim	-6	F	3
CUT	Peter Malnati	-6	F	3
CUT	Ben Martin	-6	F	3
CUT	Matt McCarty	-6	F	3
CUT	Henrik Norlander	-6	F	3
CUT	John Pak	-6	F	3
CUT	Jesper Svensson	-6	F	3
CUT	Jhonattan Vegas	-6	F	3
CUT	Aaron Baddeley	-5	F	3
CUT	Zac Blair	-5	F	3
CUT	Wyndham Clark	-5	F	3
CUT	Greyson Sigg	-5	F	3
CUT	Emiliano Grillo	-4	F	3
CUT	Nick Hardy	-4	F	3
CUT	Brian Harman	-4	F	3
CUT	Max McGreevy	-4	F	3
CUT	Paul Peterson	-4	F	3
CUT	Aldrich Potgieter	-4	F	3
CUT	Matti Schmid	-4	F	3
CUT	Adam Svensson	-4	F	3
CUT	Danny Walker	-4	F	3
CUT	Anders Albertson	-3	F	3
CUT	Mason Andersen	-3	F	3
CUT	Christiaan Bezuidenhout	-3	F	3
CUT	Lucas Glover	-3	F	3
CUT	David Lipsky	-3	F	3
CUT	Jackson Suber	-3	F	3
CUT	Erik van Rooyen	-3	F	3
CUT	Hayden Buckley	-2	F	3
CUT	Bronson Burgoon	-2	F	3
CUT	Rafael Campos	-2	F	3
CUT	Jason Dufner	-2	F	3
CUT	Steven Fisk	-2	F	3
CUT	Kaito Onishi	-2	F	3
CUT	David Skinns	-2	F	3
CUT	Braden Thornberry	-2	F	3
CUT	Will Chandler	-1	F	3
CUT	Trevor Cone	-1	F	3
CUT	Patrick Fishburn	-1	F	3
CUT	Thomas Rosenmueller	-1	F	3
CUT	Sami Valimaki	-1	F	3
CUT	Kevin Velo	-1	F	3
CUT	Taylor Dickson	E	F	3
CUT	William Mouw	E	F	3
CUT	Antoine Rozner	E	F	3
CUT	Wesley Bryan	+1	F	3
CUT	Chesson Hadley	+1	F	3
CUT	Kyle Mendoza	+1	F	3
CUT	Kevin Streelman	+1	F	3
CUT	Danny Willett	+1	F	3
CUT	Bill Haas	+2	F	3
CUT	Kevin Kisner	+2	F	3
CUT	Ben Silverman	+2	F	3
CUT	Cam Young	+2	F	3
CUT	Philip Knowles	+4	F	3
CUT	Davis Riley	+4	F	3
CUT	Andrew Novak	+5	F	3
CUT	Cristobal Del Solar	+13	F	3
WD	Adam Schenk	-	-
WD	Brendon Todd	-	-

Team Finals 2024

Rank	Team Name	Total	Score
1	RIPPER GC	-11	277
T2	4ACES GC	-8	280
T2	IRON HEADS GC	-8	280
4	LEGION XIII	-6	282
5	STINGER GC	-15	273
6	FIREBALLS GC	-14	274
T7	CRUSHERS GC	-2	286
T7	HYFLYERS GC	-2	286
9	MAJESTICKS GC	-5	283
10	TORQUE GC	-4	284
11	CLEEKS GC	-1	287
12	RANGEGOATS GC	+4	292
13	SMASH GC	+12	300