On the PGA Tour, tournaments are played under Summer Rules. When the weather conditions are not good like when it is raining, the Committee may decide to have the players play preferred lies and this will be in effect for the round and for all the players.
During the AT&T Pro Am at Pebble Beach a few weeks ago, the Committee decided to put in effect the Preferred lies rules for the first round because of heavy rain.
A lot of people asked me why the preferred lies rule was still in effect on Saturday for the third round and the weather was nice.
Why?
Because players are playing different courses on any given day.
This tournament has so many amateurs registered that they need to have every player compete on 3 different golf courses before making the cut after the 54 first holes. Because the PGA Tour wants the player to play in the same conditions as much as possible, they must keep the preferred lies conditions for the 3 courses and the 3 days of competition before the cut.
When the Committee suspends play because a course becomes impractical, for the same reasons he must suspend play on all the courses.
The Committee has the following options when he decides to put into effect the preferred lies conditions:
- Closely mown area on your own fairway
- On any closely mown area through the green
- Anywhere through the green
- Mark, Lift, Clean and replace on the same spot
- Mark, Lift, Clean and Place within a predetermined distance (club length, score card, 6 inches, 1 foot, etc.)
Things to remember
- When the ball is placed or replace, the ball become immediately in play when the ball is no longer in contact with our hand. We may not touch the ball again.
- Nothing in the Rules of Golf prohibits changing the type of grass (from fairway to rough) when taking relief, but we may not position the ball in a Hazard nor a green.
- We must never move the ball with the club-head.