Rules of Golf Review: If the ball doesn't move, can you rotate it on the green without marking it first?
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At the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club outside of Pittsburgh, players had their hands full battling one of the toughest tracks in golf. How hard was Oakmont? All you had to do was shoot seven over par during the first two rounds to make the cut. Of course, that seven over was equivalent to seven under on a lot of other courses.
Things got so frustrating for Shane Lowry, who was on his way to missing the cut during a hot, grueling second round, he actually forgot to mark his ball before lifting it on the 14th green. Obviously, you can't do that. It's a one-stroke penalty, and the ball must be replaced under Rule 9.4. You might wonder, however, what happens when you touch your golf ball but it doesn't move.
A classic example happens in recreational golf on a somewhat frequent basis. A golfer approaches his or her ball on the green, sees it has some mud on it, and simply rubs the ball on the putting surface to clean it before replacing it. That act would be fine if the player marked the ball's position first, but if he or she was playing by the Rules of Golf, cleaning the ball in this manner is no different than what Lowry did in terms of how to proceed. It's a one-stroke penalty.
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What about golfers who rotate their ball on the green to get the alignment marker in sync with their chosen line of putt? A clarification to Rule 9.4 (9.4b/1) says you can't deliberately touch a ball even if it doesn't move from its spot. Not only is it a one-stroke penalty on the green, it's also a penalty if done in these other examples:
- Without first marking the ball’s spot, a player rotates the ball anywhere on the course to identify it and the ball is the player’s ball.
- Deliberately touching the ball with a club in preparing to make a stroke.
- Holding the ball steady with their hand or positions a pine cone or stick against the ball to prevent the ball from moving while removing some loose impediments or brushing something off the ball.
The thing to remember is to simply mark your ball before lifting it for practically any reason, including taking relief or trying to identify it, etc.