The  Rules of Golf  end up being tricky! Thankfully, we’ve got the guru. Our  Rules Guy  awares the book front to back . Got a question? He’s managed to get all the answers.

I was last week watching the end of the 2021 Farmers Insurance Open. Throughout playoff, Luke List stolen in for birdie before Should Zalatoris attempted his considerably longer birdie putt—which he subsequently missed. What rule towards golf permitted List to first, when Zalatoris was formerly obviously away?
—Noel Green, Ajax, Ontario, Canada

What let Marketing e-mail list leap ahead? Neither i would say the Golden Rule nor your rule, just good old Procedure 6. 4b.

There is no penalty for golfing out of order in stroke do, and a playoff is just every other stroke-play round. (This could be described as provided two players may not agree to play out of status in order to give a player critical, which clearly isn’t pertinent here. )

Even in match play, there is no penalty for playing out of turn, just the ability of the wronged party to call of said stroke if expected.

Further penalty-guidance from our guru, keep on reading …

I was at the end of a steep greenside poste. Immediately after hitting my picture, I smoothed the crushed stone with my foot — only to then look up to choose the ball hadn’t cleared this trap and was moving back to me. Of course , this tool stopped exactly in the position I’d smoothed. Was here a penalty?  
— Tom Metzner, via email

Loyal readers related with Rules Guy know that, bessides favoring the third-person heterogeneo when referencing ourselves, we often underscore the notion that knowing what’s going on around you, the same as knowing the Rules of Are generally, generally works to one’s drop … except, that is, through opposite is true.

This is a case of the second. Firstly, were the glass decoration outside the bunker when you happen to be smoothing, there is no issue ın any respect, even when the ball will roll back into the fortin. Now, when the ball is definitely in the bunker, regardless of whether the problem ever left, things can turn.

If you smoothed the sand deliberately to successfully affect the ball in pattern, that would be the general penalty involved with two strokes in stroke play or loss of pit in match play by Rule 11. 3.

If, however , you’re blissfully unaware and simply smoothing to care for the study course, there is no penalty involved, skirting the prohibitions under Reign in 12. 2b.