Last year, the tournament committees were very busy with rules in all the major professional tours.
Golf Digest has found 31 incidents related to course set up or rules incidents during 2021. You can read all those incidents in the following link: https://www.golfdigest.com/story/biggest-rules-issues-golf-2021
My comments on certain incidents for the first 3 months of 2021:
A) Internal Out of bounds (Sony Open; Players Championship)
Sometimes, I put internal Out of Bounds in my tournaments. Most of the time it is for safety reasons. Most of the players don’t like that. Some players told me it should never be done. Now that we have at least two PGA Tour events with internal out of bounds, it will make my job easier.
B) Embedded ball (Torrey Pines)
I always suggest to players, to make sure nobody would argue they are doing something wrong. If you need to pick up your ball to see if it is embedded or cracked, you should make sure someone watches you do it. It is not a Rules obligation, but it is better for your reputation. At Torrey Pines, Patrick Reed, did not help by doing everything on his own.
C) Video evidence (The American Express; Pebble Beach)
In 2019, the R&A and USGA added a Rule saying Video evidence would not be used it something happens that can’t be seen with the naked eye. The PGA Tour still used footage when necessary. They even have someone full time watching television to see any problems on the course.
D) Score cards errors (Arnold Palmer Invitational; Kia Classic LPGA)
Unfortunately, we see very often a player having a bad day, not signing his score card, or making a mistake with a disqualification penalty attached to the breach. Some players do it on purpose. The score will not be official.