The rules of golf have been exposed as ridiculous this weekend.
Shame, it's been a good tournament but the inconsistency in punishments is outrageous.

— Graham Ellis (@Ellispropserv) July 19, 2026

Yes TV based their reasoning on someone saw it go in not an official saw where it went in, but someone? They then justified it 45 minutes later that they ( who) found the ball. The hole was over the flag was put in the hole. Why are there so many outside influences.

— Jules (@JulioBaranano) July 19, 2026

When it's to your advantage to not find the ball, that's a bad rule . . .

Scottie Scheffler says they didn’t find his ball on 17 and he actually asked people to stop searching for it:

“The rules official said it landed just barely left of the grandstand thing. I don't know what you call that, like a sponsor area or something. And Teddy had a beat… https://t.co/A4aNCABk7c pic.twitter.com/QwZ8Fzjv1p

— Flushing It (@flushingitgolf) July 19, 2026

Quote:

---

"I stopped them. They had guys pointing from up there, like it landed right here, and I just kind of hauled up there, and I was like, guys, get out of there, stop, do not find the ball. Fortunately it was my security guy that I've had for a few years here. His name is Brucey. And then Woody was up there as well. So both those guys are pretty -- I know them quite well, so when I said, please don't look for the ball, they got out of there."

---

"Even though they couldn't find it" when by rule you don't have to find it

Feels like a situation where it's against spirit of the game. Look for the ball. They hardly searched and were stopped by Scottie sprinting up there. A bad look. People were pointing at the entry point. Scheffler didn't look for it.

That sounds pretty much like he’s trying not to find the ball. Shouldn’t they try and find his ball? Like what are we doing?

— Bjamin (@goosebjamin) July 19, 2026

The problem with virtually all of your 75 tweets is they imply or outright say that something improper was done or it was a crooked ruling to benefit Scheffler when in fact everything was done within the rules. You may not like the rule, but that's different than saying something improper was done.

But again you're mixing up not liking the rule with saying something wrong was done

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/rules-of-golf-review-can-i-declare-a-ball-lost

cb1919 said:

---

But again you're mixing up not liking the rule with saying something wrong was done

---

did Scotty search for his ball for 3 minutes under the rules of golf? If so, then yes there's no problem. It's a bad local rule there that needs to be changed.

I believe it ended up moot. Ball was found later in the TIO area. It's just Scotty didn't look for his ball and was racing to use rules to advantage. And the official promoted it too. That doesn't feel right. Shouldn't be able to do that. Also he didn't win the tourney anyway with the TIO rule helping him.

Also - regardless of rules, Scotty hit multiple horrible shots for a pro on that hole. It's crazy he gets rewarded with birdie. While Bryson under microscope for blades of grass. Golf can be a silly, inequitable game the way it plays out sometimes. TIO local rule there should be changed. Yes.

Coppell97 said:

---

cb1919 said:

---

But again you're mixing up not liking the rule with saying something wrong was done

---

did Scotty search for his ball for 3 minutes under the rules of golf? If so, then yes there's no problem. It's a bad local rule there that needs to be changed.

---

The rules literally don't require him to

The rules can work for you and against you. The key is knowing them so that your decisions and actions put you in the best position possible. Scottie did. Bryson basically went ham stomping his backswing lie when the rule is clear. He just thought he could get away with it because they do too often

Ok then yes. A horrible local rule there. Shouldn't have that local rule in a PGA tourney, let alone a major championship.

JCA1 said:

---

Coppell97 said:

---

cb1919 said:

---

But again you're mixing up not liking the rule with saying something wrong was done

---

did Scotty search for his ball for 3 minutes under the rules of golf? If so, then yes there's no problem. It's a bad local rule there that needs to be changed.

---

There is no universal rules of golf. Instead, there are a number of governing bodies. The Open is governed by the R&A and applies the R&A's rules. Unless you have a pretty good familiarity with those, this is a really weird hill to die on.

---

just discussing golf. Agreed it's a weird local rule. See that now. Was not aware didn't have to search for it. Optics of it along with schefflers quotes will look off to fans not familiar with these esoteric local rules. I get it now. Many will never get it. Perhaps rules need to be simplified.

JCA1 said:

---

Coppell97 said:

---

Ok then yes. A horrible local rule there. Shouldn't have that local rule in a PGA tourney, let alone a major championship.

---

Good god. It's not a pga event.

---

it is an official major of the PGA tour. PGA is pro golf.

And as I said earlier, there's really nothing wrong with the rule per se. It speeds up play. If there's an issue at all, it's putting TIO next to a reachable par 5 so this situation could arise.

JCA1 said:

---

Coppell97 said:

---

JCA1 said:

---

Coppell97 said:

---

cb1919 said:

---

But again you're mixing up not liking the rule with saying something wrong was done

---

did Scotty search for his ball for 3 minutes under the rules of golf? If so, then yes there's no problem. It's a bad local rule there that needs to be changed.

---

There is no universal rules of golf. Instead, there are a number of governing bodies. The Open is governed by the R&A and applies the R&A's rules. Unless you have a pretty good familiarity with those, this is a really weird hill to die on.

---

just discussing golf. Agreed it's a weird local rule. See that now. Was not aware didn't have to search for it. Optics of it along with schefflers quotes will look off to fans not familiar with these esoteric local rules. I get it now. Many will never get it. Perhaps rules need to be simplified.

---

Or, rather than dumb it down for people who had no idea about any of this until 5 minutes ago, those people could try and educate themselves before running to the internet.

---

I mean no harm. Was a weird local rule that I didn't understand. Thanks for helping clarify here. I enjoy the discussion on the golf board. It's clear we have people here that have deep understanding of the official rules of golf. The knowledge here is going to be way above most fans watching pro golf. No doubt lot of fans are wondering what happened.

Coppell97 said:

---

JCA1 said:

---

Coppell97 said:

---

JCA1 said:

---

Coppell97 said:

---

cb1919 said:

---

But again you're mixing up not liking the rule with saying something wrong was done

---

did Scotty search for his ball for 3 minutes under the rules of golf? If so, then yes there's no problem. It's a bad local rule there that needs to be changed.

---

There is no universal rules of golf. Instead, there are a number of governing bodies. The Open is governed by the R&A and applies the R&A's rules. Unless you have a pretty good familiarity with those, this is a really weird hill to die on.

---

just discussing golf. Agreed it's a weird local rule. See that now. Was not aware didn't have to search for it. Optics of it along with schefflers quotes will look off to fans not familiar with these esoteric local rules. I get it now. Many will never get it. Perhaps rules need to be simplified.

---

Or, rather than dumb it down for people who had no idea about any of this until 5 minutes ago, those people could try and educate themselves before running to the internet.

---

I mean no harm. Was a weird local rule that I didn't understand. Thanks for helping clarify here. I enjoy the discussion on the golf board. It's clear we have people here that have deep understanding of the official rules of golf. The knowledge here is going to be way above most fans watching pro golf. No doubt lot of fans are wondering what happened.

---

No worries. Appreciate the good faith dialog. My apologies for getting snippy.

No worries. It's all good.

JCA1 said:

---

Here's the rule. Basically, it was a given it was in the TIO area so no need to look for it in order to take the drop.

To me, the issue is having TIO so close to a par 5 where you know people will be going for it (maybe even more so if they're up on this rule). But otherwise, this is just the rule. No shenanigans.

Not saying I agree with it, but the “virtual certainty” rule has come into play before. If everyone saw your ball go into TIO, you don’t have to find it. It’s in the R&A handbook. https://t.co/lV76Hv8mUB pic.twitter.com/qwHhk2P0QV

— Gabby Herzig (@GabbyHerzig) July 19, 2026

---

We may be splitting hairs here and my post isn't to correct you but to find out exactly what should and could have happened.

I believe there is a requirement to look for the ball because if found and the nearest point of relief is in a different area then that would affect the drop. Which is why the rules official told Scotty he may have to drop in a different area if they found the ball. Scotty even said that area may not have as good of an angle to the pin so he decided to not look for the ball or to stop the search in order to preserve (in his mind) the better angle.

So the question is, was he required to look for the ball and if he meant to call the search off early to gain an advantage then that is a problem. I do not know the answer to that.

You are never required to search for your ball at any time. You'll see this every now and then in competitive events where for some reason or another it is advantageous to the player to not find their original ball. In this case, it was advantageous for Scottie to not find it as all evidence pointed towards it being in the TIO, unless there is someone there saying they don't think it is in the TIO then not finding it allows him a TIO drop, he and anyone that he has any sway over is not going to look for the ball (his opponents or spectators may search for the 3 minutes after he arrived at the spot). If there was a fan around saying they saw it leave the TIO and was in another course location he would have looked to find it in the TIO because it is now no longer "known or virtually certain."

The most clear rule on this is under the clarifications for 18.3c(2)/2.

Last year in a USGA event I got to watch a guy run down the fairway to hit his provisional before anyone could find his original ball that would have put him in a much worse situation.

Explain that last line? And what are other examples where you wouldn't want to find your ball?

watty said:

---

Explain that last line? And what are other examples where you wouldn't want to find your ball?

---

Let's say I'm 200 yards out on a par 4 laying one. I hit one towards OB, but not sure if it went OB. If it is in it will still be blocked out by trees/other terrible situation. I don't know if it is OB or not, so I hit a provisional. Provisional is three feet from the cup. I'll take the bogey over laying two in trouble.

I'm on a par 3, I hit. my tee shot in the woods which are general area. I take a provisional which cozies up 2 inches from the pin. I'm going to run up and tap in for 4 rather than find out what is going on in the woods with my first ball.

The course has GUR marked on the right, behind the GUR is long fescue and behind that is out of bounds. I hit it out towards that way. I believe my ball landed in the GUR, none of my opponents disagree, I am taking my free drop and hitting 2 from a much better lie than finding it in the fescue or the OB. If my opponents disagree they are free to go look for it. If I am not certain the ball went in the GUR I should either play it as a lost ball/OB or try to find it, but there is no mechanism in the rules that say I have to go look for it, and proving that I'm lying about where I believe my ball to be is a tough situation. That's why golf is a self policing sport, so many of the rules mention intentions or beliefs or "virtually certain" situations that a player has to be truthful about. It is why when you even get a thought from opponents that you may have cheated that it is a very hard stink to get rid of for the rest of your playing days.

In the USGA event I was in the player hit into a native grass area, he took a provisional which hit the cart path about 5 times and ended up 40 yards from the pin on a 450y par 4. He ran to the provisional to hit it which made it the ball in play even if we found his original ball after he had made a stroke on it and it was within the 3 minutes

gestapoparrot said:

---

I'm on a par 3, I hit. my tee shot in the woods. I take a provisional which cozies up 2 inches from the pin. I'm going to run up and tap in for 4 rather than find out what is going on in the woods with my first ball.

---

But can't you always take stroke and distance anyway? So wouldn't it still be better to sure, hit your provisional, but then go find your first ball just in case it's in a better spot than you realized? Or does finding the original negate the provisional? And then even if you do decide to take stroke and distance, you would have to go re-hit?

Provisionals are only for balls that may be OB, right? Not for balls that you think may be lost or in a hazard? Or can you hit a provisional any time you think you may be in trouble of any kind?