At some point this needs to be addressed

Trevor Immelman on Wyndham's shot into the 14th out of the rough: "He's taking a long look at this. This is like the third club he's placed down behind the ball there."

Frank Nobilo: "So the lie might be better." pic.twitter.com/BtOV5DpL03

— Kyle Porter (@KylePorterNS) August 23, 2026

Every tour player does this

yeah alot of people are pissin and moaning about this except the people who actually enforce the rules. Until they say something or penalize him I don't really care. its not like he's trying to hide it; he does it all the time.

oldflyer said:

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Gary Player would take out a 3-wood and address the ball to push down the grass. He's then go back and get the iron that he needed to hit. Don't think he was ever penalized for it.

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Nope. Within the rules ...

cb1919 said:

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aginlakeway said:

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oldflyer said:

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Gary Player would take out a 3-wood and address the ball to push down the grass. He's then go back and get the iron that he needed to hit. Don't think he was ever penalized for it.

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Nope. Within the rules ...

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The situation described is not with the rules

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With Gary Player or with Clark?

Very hard to determine intent and thus a breakage of rules.

aginlakeway said:

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cb1919 said:

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aginlakeway said:

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oldflyer said:

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Gary Player would take out a 3-wood and address the ball to push down the grass. He's then go back and get the iron that he needed to hit. Don't think he was ever penalized for it.

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Nope. Within the rules ...

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The situation described is not with the rules

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With Gary Player or with Clark?

Very hard to determine intent and thus a breakage of rules.

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I was saying about the situation with Player is not within the rules.

But on Clark, I think it's definitely against rules, but it's one of those things that just doesn't really get enforced.

aginlakeway said:

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cb1919 said:

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aginlakeway said:

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oldflyer said:

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Gary Player would take out a 3-wood and address the ball to push down the grass. He's then go back and get the iron that he needed to hit. Don't think he was ever penalized for it.

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Nope. Within the rules ...

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The situation described is not with the rules

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With Gary Player or with Clark?

Very hard to determine intent and thus a breakage of rules.

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Really doesn't matter to me but the rule is squirrelly because it is illegal to press down behind your golf ball to improve your lie but legal to address your ball. But those are virtually indistinguishable. It would probably be better just to legalize it or craft a rule you can actually enforce. Having something that is illegal but no real means to enforce it is the worst of both worlds.

cb1919 said:

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aginlakeway said:

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cb1919 said:

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aginlakeway said:

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oldflyer said:

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Gary Player would take out a 3-wood and address the ball to push down the grass. He's then go back and get the iron that he needed to hit. Don't think he was ever penalized for it.

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Nope. Within the rules ...

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The situation described is not with the rules

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With Gary Player or with Clark?

Very hard to determine intent and thus a breakage of rules.

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I was saying about the situation with Player is not within the rules.

But on Clark, I think it's definitely against rules, but it's one of those things that just doesn't really get enforced.

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Maybr you're right. But if he is addressing the ball, and then changes clubs ... very tough to enforce that.

Golf rules sometimes overcomplicate things.

I don't believe the rule is complicating things here. It's supposed to be a gentlemen's game. You call penalties on yourself.

There's a presumption of integrity at the core of golf but it just isn't prevalent any longer. He's cheating and he knows it and he's going to keep doing it because he doesn't have integrity. There's money on the line after all.

aginlakeway said:

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cb1919 said:

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aginlakeway said:

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oldflyer said:

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Gary Player would take out a 3-wood and address the ball to push down the grass. He's then go back and get the iron that he needed to hit. Don't think he was ever penalized for it.

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Nope. Within the rules ...

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The situation described is not with the rules

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With Gary Player or with Clark?

Very hard to determine intent and thus a breakage of rules.

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Does there have to be intent for the rule about improving the lie to be broken? Not being contrary, just wondering if a player (or his caddy) has to intend to improve the lie (which sure looks like Clark's goal.) Agree that this action (multiple clubs pushing down grass behind the ball) needs to be addressed and clarified (USGA?, PGA Tour?)

Just allow a player to press the grass down, as long as the ball doesn't move. Hell, let them get out a machete and clear out the high grass around the ball, as long as it doesn't move.

I'm still shanking and losing that shot, but at least I let my anger out on the course.

Intent doesn't matter

Muy said:

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Just allow a player to press the grass down, as long as the ball doesn't move. Hell, let them get out a machete and clear out the high grass around the ball, as long as it doesn't move.

I'm still shanking and losing that shot, but at least I let my anger out on the course.

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I press down behind the ball all the time. I guess I wouldn't do it in a tournament of any sort. Thing is, when I do , about 90% of the time the ball subtly wobbles. Quite often that wobble settles it lower in the rough, so not only would I be penalized, my lie would be worse. I'm surprised to see so many pros do it, based on how frequently I see my ball move.