INTERPRETATION OF THE RULES OF GOLF 
by Frank Gal, 
Chairman of Rules & Amateur Status

April 2007 - Tiger's Ruling at Firestone

On his final hole (the 9th hole of the course) of his second round in the 2006 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, Tiger Woods's second shot struck a paved path and bounced over the clubhouse. Ultimately, Woods was permitted to drop a ball without penalty and complete play of the hole.

The ruling given is still generating numerous inquiries, due mainly to the confusion within the TV commentary team at the time.

The following is an explanation of the ruling provided by Gary Coblenz on the Royal Canadian Golf Association Website (www.rcga.org):

"This summer an unusual rules situation arose at Firestone Country Club during the Bridgestone Invitational when Tiger Woods hit his nine iron over 200 yards, hitting a cart path behind the eighteenth green and coming to rest in the parking lot behind the clubhouse. The incident, which also had fellow-competitor Paul Casey behind the grandstands and looking for assistance, took 32 minutes to resolve.

The incident garnered attention from not only TV commentators and viewers, but also several other PGA Tour players who thought that Tiger may have received a favourable ruling after finally dropping a ball without penalty nearly 100 yards from where it had originally come to rest. Two weeks later while working at the Canadian Open I had the opportunity to get the full story from two of the three rules officials who helped Woods and Casey get back on track that day.

After hitting the errant approach shot to the 18th green, Woods arrived behind the grandstands surrounding the green to find a rules official had already arrived and was trying to locate his ball. Within a minute or two, the official was told that the club manager could see the ball on the roof of the clubhouse near an air conditioning vent.

Based on this information, and determining that the ball was not retrievable, Woods correctly began to proceed under Rule 24-2b for a ball that is lost in or on an obstruction. Before he had an opportunity to drop a ball, however, the official received another message that the ball on the roof was not actually Tiger's.

Here is what happened:

As Woods was setting up to play to the 18th green, two caterers were loading pies onto a cart behind the clubhouse. As one caterer loaded the cart, he heard a ball land close to him and come to rest a few yards away. The caterer picked up the ball and put it in his pocket, thinking that someone was playing a practical joke by tossing a ball at him. The two caterers then drove away to deliver the pies.

While on the way, the fellow reached in his pocket and pulled out the ball only to discover the name "TIGER" imprinted on it. He quickly realized to whom the ball likely belonged and handed it to a security officer on the course. Fortunately, the communication system at PGA Tour events is extremely efficient so the information quickly got to the rules officials at the 18th green. Woods` ball had actually bounced over the entire clubhouse and into the parking lot where the caterers were working.

Thanks to a security officer, the rules officials were able to accurately determine where the ball had come to rest on the pavement behind the clubhouse. Since the pavement is an immovable obstruction, Woods was entitled to relief without penalty under Rule 24-2. The nearest point of relief took him off the pavement and out from behind the clubhouse. However, it also put him in a place where the grandstands surrounding the 18th green were on his line of play.

Grandstands, like all other structures set up temporarily for a competition, are covered by a local rule and are specifically referred to as "temporary immovable obstructions" (TIOs). Unlike regular obstructions, if a player has interference from a TIO, including line of play to the hole, he is entitled to relief by dropping his ball at the nearest point that provides relief from the interference. Since the grandstands around the 18th green at Firestone encircled the entire back and sides of the green, Tiger had to drop his ball nearly 100 yards, but not nearer the hole, from where it originally lay. This was the nearest point that avoided interference from the grandstand."

The following points were also taken into account by the Rules Officials when ruling on the incident:

• The clubhouse and surrounding paved areas were not "out of bounds" at Firestone.
• Although it took more than five minutes to find the ball, within five minutes of the start of the search for the ball, the Rules Officials determined, via eyewitness testimony, that reasonable evidence existed that the ball had been moved by an outside agency.
• The players were not in breach of the Pace of Play Guidelines as the delay during the play of the 9th hole was due to the time needed for the ruling.