The List Issue: 10 Biggest Rule Controversies: Golf Digest

1. Englewood, 1909

Amateurs Jerome Travers and Findlay Douglas miss their ferries and arrive an hour late for the final round. USGA officials allow Douglas to play but disqualify Travers. Their reasoning? Douglas had informed them immediately of his tardiness, while Travers waited more than an hour.

2. Brae Burn, 1919

Walter Hagen leads playoff with Mike Brady by three shots on the 10th hole, when Brady's "fans" call Hagen for moving a matchbox near his ball within 20 yards of the green, a rules violation at the time. Hagen's "fans" then call Brady for having done the same thing at No. 9, and the playoff is delayed while Brady and referees return to the hole to recreate the infraction. Both players finally agree to waive the two-stroke penalties, and Hagen eventually wins a playoff.

3. Interlachen, 1930

Bobby Jones, trying to win the the third leg of the Grand Slam, leads by three when he slices his tee shot on the par-3 17th in the final round. No one sees precisely where it lands; many felt Jones should have taken a lost-ball penalty and returned to the tee. But Prescott Bush, the USGA referee (and grandfather of President George W. Bush), rules Jones' ball had buried in a dried swamp, declaring it a parallel water hazard and allows Jones to take a one-shot penalty and drop near the green. He makes double-bogey 5, then birdies the last hole to win by two.

4. Inverness, 1931

The size and weight of golf balls had fluctuated for years, between 1.3 and 1.7 ounces, and from 1.5 to 1.7 inches in diameter. Before the event the USGA announces mandatory specifications: balls must be 1.68 inches in diameter and 1.55 ounces in weight. But these so-called "balloon balls," which don't carry or roll as far as heavier models, are unpopular with players -- and legislated out of the game by year's end.

5. Baltusrol, 1936

Out of contention going into the 36-hole final day, Gene Sarazen asks to be paired with his close friend, Tony Manero, who was two shots out of the lead but prone to buckle under pressure. Sarazen guides Manero to a final-round 67 and an apparent victory -- until protests are lodged that Sarazen had violated the rules by offering advice. An hour-long hearing is held, but USGA officials let Manero's win stand.

6. Canterbury, 1940

With a storm brewing before the final round, Porky Oliver and five others rush to the first tee ahead of their starting times, and no official is there to stop them. Oliver shoots 71 to tie Gene Sarazen and Lawson Little, only to be informed he is disqualified for teeing off early. Sarazen and Little protest in an effort to have Oliver included in the playoff, but the USGA refuses.

7. Merion, 1950

One shot behind Ben Hogan on the 16th hole of a playoff, Lloyd Mangrum is about to putt when he notices a bug on his ball. Without thinking, he picks up the ball and blows the insect away -- and incurs a two-shot penalty for lifting and cleaning his ball, then against the rules. Hogan wins by four.

8. Baltusrol, 1954

Ahead by one with one to play, Ed Furgol hooks his drive into the woods to the left of the 18th fairway on the club's Lower course, the one being used for the championship. Furgol has an opening up the 18th fairway of the adjoining Upper course -- but first has to make sure it isn't out-of-bounds. Assured by USGA officials it is not, he plays up the other course, makes par and wins.

9. Inverness, 1957

Ben Hogan wakes up the morning of the first round with an attack of pleurisy so painful he cannot lift his arms above his head. When he calls the USGA before his 9:36 a.m. starting time to withdraw, officials instead bump his time back one hour to allow him to visit a doctor. Doctors are unable to treat Hogan, and he drops out anyway.

10. Oakmont, 1994

Ernie Els, the 54-hole leader, hits his first shot Sunday into dense rough left of the first fairway, but his line to the green is partially obstructed by an ABC camera crane. USGA official Trey Holland rules the crane an immovable obstruction and allows him to drop in an area of nearby hardpan. From there, Els scrambles for bogey and eventually wins a playoff. But the crane was hardly immovable -- it had been moved four times earlier that day because it was in a players' line, and it was moved to a new position on the parallel ninth hole as soon as Els hit.