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How to take relief from hazards, out of bounds and lost balls.

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Rules Of Golf: Out Of Bounds

When is your ball in or out of bounds, and what should you do? Find out here...

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However good you are, at some stage you will hit your ball beyond the course boundaries, so you need to know what to do when you find yourself out of bounds

Out of bounds may be defined in a number of ways – white stakes, lines on the ground, fences, walls, railings – but if your ball has strayed beyond them, the first thing to remember is that there is no option within the Rules to drop a ball under penalty at the point where your ball crossed the OOB line as you would with a water hazard (although many golfers might play this ‘rule’ informally in friendly games).

If your ball is definitely out of bounds, you must play another ball from where you last played under penalty of stroke and distance (Rule 14.6), whether from the tee or fairway. So if it was your tee-shot that had gone OOB, you would now be playing three off the tee.

If there is some doubt as to whether or not the ball is out of bounds (i.e the out of bounds line is partially hidden by trees, or you cannot be 100% certain it has definitely crossed the line) make sure you declare your next shot a provisional ball, for if you fail to do so, you won’t be able to continue with the original ball even if it is found in bounds.

Watch:  8 rules golfers break without realising

Rule 18.2 then defines what is deemed in or out of bounds.

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A ball is in bounds when any part of the ball: 

• Lies on or touches the ground or anything else (such as any natural or artificial object) inside the boundary edge, or
• Is above the boundary edge or any other part of the  course .

Where out of bounds is defined by white stakes or a fence, the out of bounds line is the nearest inside points at ground level of the stakes or fence posts.

When a line on the ground is used, the line itself is out of bounds. However, a ball is deemed in bounds still even if only a small part of it lies on the course side of the boundary line.

If white stakes are used at intervals, the out of bounds line is the direct line from one stake to the next.

Clearly this may sometimes become a matter of tricky judgment with the naked eye, but it is not unknown for referees in big events to carry a piece of string around with them to help them determine if a ball lies in or out of bounds!

Related:  7 tips to help you find your golf ball

Other important out of bounds points to note are:

1) You may stand out of bounds to play a ball that is lying in bounds.

2) The out of bounds line extends vertically upwards, so if your ball is lodged in a tree on the boundary , you will have to make your judgment on that basis.

3) Whatever is used to define out of bounds - whether fence, railings, wall or stakes – is deemed to be fixed and is not classed as an obstruction. This means that you get no free relief if the fence, railings or wall impede your stance, backswing or follow-through, and that white out of bounds stakes may not be removed to facilitate your next shot.

4) Some courses have ‘internal out of bounds’ for reasons of safety or to ensure a hole is played in the way in which it was designed rather than via another potentially easier route down another fairway. Whatever you think of that, you have to honour it even if your ball is lying in the clear with a perfect route in to the green. Frustrating sometimes, but probably for the overall good of all playing the course!

For more rules content, check out the Golf Monthly website.

Jeremy Ellwood has worked in the golf industry since 1993 and for Golf Monthly since 2002 when he started out as equipment editor. He is now a freelance journalist writing mainly for Golf Monthly . He is an expert on the Rules of Golf having qualified through an R&A course to become a golf referee. He is a senior panelist for Golf Monthly's Top 100 UK & Ireland Course Rankings and has played all of the Top 100 plus 91 of the Next 100, making him well-qualified when it comes to assessing and comparing our premier golf courses. He has now played 1,000 golf courses worldwide in 35 countries, from the humblest of nine-holers in the Scottish Highlands to the very grandest of international golf resorts. He reached the 1,000 mark on his 60th birthday in October 2023 on Vale do Lobo's Ocean course. Put him on a links course anywhere and he will be blissfully content.

Jezz can be contacted via Twitter - @JezzEllwoodGolf

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Driver: Ping G425 LST 10.5˚ (draw setting), Mitsubishi Tensei AV Orange 55 S shaft

3 wood: Srixon ZX, EvenFlow Riptide 6.0 S 50g shaft

Hybrid: Ping G425 17˚, Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro Orange 80 S shaft

Irons 3- to 8-iron: Ping i525, True Temper Dynamic Gold 105 R300 shafts

Irons 9-iron and PW: Honma TWorld TW747Vx, Nippon NS Pro regular shaft

Wedges: Ping Glide 4.0 50˚ and 54˚, 12˚ bounce, True Temper Dynamic Gold 105 R300 shafts

Putter: Kramski HPP 325

Ball: Any premium ball I can find in a charity shop or similar (or out on the course!)

Steve Wheatcroft has opened up on his issues, which came to the surface in 2019, three years after he retired from the game

By Mike Hall Published 4 September 24

A report from Eamon Lynch at Golfweek states that the four stars are set to appear in a made-for-TV contest to be held in Las Vegas in mid-December

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What is the PGA Tour cut rule, and how is the cut line determined?

Most PGA Tour events have a cut after two rounds, or 36 holes, down to a field for the final two rounds. In the 2024 PGA Tour season, the cut rule is down to the top 65 players and ties, with those players getting to finish out the tournament.

As of the 2019-2020 season, the rule had been changed to the top 65 players and ties in an effort to reduce the number of weekend players so the PGA Tour could more easily finish tournament rounds without them having to spill into the next day or have a two-tee start.

Before the 2018-2019 season, the PGA Tour cut rule was to the top 70 and ties after 36 holes. All players could finish the tournament, provided less than 78 players finishing inside the 36-hole cut line. (Here are the PGA Tour events without a cut .)

In the event that 78 or more players make the 36-hole cut, then the PGA Tour had a secondary cut after 54 holes to reduce the field to the number nearest possible to 70 players. Those players who survived the secondary cut play the final round and had an opportunity to move up the leaderboard. The players who missed the secondary cut are considered MDF, or "made the cut, didn't finish," and earned money and FedEx Cup points for their standing through 54 holes. The Northern Trust, the one FedEx Cup playoff event with a cut, did not offer a MDF. The secondary cut no longer exists.

All players who make the 36-hole cut are paid according to the PGA Tour purse distribution guidance.

However, not every PGA Tour event has a 36-hole cut line. Some events are not subject to the PGA Tour cut rule. Players who complete four rounds in these events earn credit for a cut made on the PGA Tour, adding to their pension fund.

On the current PGA Tour, the minimum number of players in the field to have a 36-hole cut is 120. That's the field size for invitationals and opposite-field events.

PGA Tour events without a cut

• AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am
• RBC Heritage
• Wells Fargo Championship
• Travelers Championship
• FedEx St. Jude Championship
• BMW Championship
• Tour Championship
• Zozo Championship

PGA Tour events with a 54-hole cut

• The American Express: Cuts down to the top 65 and ties for the final round, unless 78 or more players would qualify for Sunday, which changes the cut to the top 60 and ties; the top 65 and ties get paid and earn FedEx Cup points

Major championship cut rules

• Open Championship
• PGA Championship

About the author

Ryan Ballengee

Ryan Ballengee is founder and editor of Golf News Net. He has been writing and broadcasting about golf for nearly 20 years. Ballengee lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his family. He is currently a +2.6 USGA handicap, and he has covered dozens of major championships and professional golf tournaments. He likes writing about golf and making it more accessible by answering the complex questions fans have about the pro game or who want to understand how to play golf better.

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The most accurate driver in PGA Tour history said this was his trusted swing thought

Calvin Peete was an amazing guy, and it's hard to overstate just how amazingly straight he hit the golf ball.

We made a whole video about Peete, but in a nutshell: Peete broke his arm irrevocably when he was young, didn't take up golf until he was in his 20s, then led the tour in driving accuracy and Greens in Regulation for almost 10 consecutive years.

Here's the video...

All of which is to say, Calvin Peete was super good at hitting the golf ball super straight.

But how did he do it?

It's impossible to know exactly how or why, but Golf Digest recognized his ability at the peak of his powers, and would periodically check in with the legendary sharpshooter to ask him for tips.

A common theme in Peete's advice ( which you can read here ) was to stay balanced throughout your swing—and there was one swing thought that helped him do this.

As golfers begin their swing, their weight should shift back to their trail leg (which is the right leg for right-handed golfers), but about halfway through your backswing, your weight should begin transferring back to your lead foot.

Yes, it should happen that early. Top coaches call this process "recentering".

Anyway, to help him feel this, Peete said he'd feel that his left foot was the "anchor" to his forward swing. That once he dropped it, it wouldn't move. He'd turn around it, nice and stable.

"On the forward swing, the left foot serves as the anchor," Peete writes. "Try my approach. You may not make a lot of eagles but you'll hit more fairways and greens—take my word for it."

You can read Peete's full article in our Golf Digest Archive right here.

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Two similar shots. Two completely different rulings. Here’s why

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Sami Valimaki's golf ball found its way to a precarious position on the final hole of the Mexico Open.

It was ironic to have the Mexico Open come down to a golf ball leaning up against a fence along the 18th hole at Vidanta Vallarta Sunday, if only because we saw something similar take place during the opening round.

On Thursday there was S.H. Kim, in danger of making a big score on the 18th, his ninth of the day. Kim had blown his first tee shot out of bounds right, then hit a peculiar second tee shot that ended up squarely on the out-of-bounds line. His ball rested on the in-bounds side of the green, wire fence. 

How do we know this? Because Joseph LaMagna , a writer for the Fried Egg, posted video scraped from the ESPN+ feed.

Presented without comment pic.twitter.com/nGiacLKqxO — Joseph LaMagna (@JosephLaMagna) February 22, 2024

Kim shows off his knowledge of the rulebook in the 39-second clip, bringing in a rules official to analyze his lie and potential to play. (And by knowledge of the book, we mean, the nuanced, tricky ways one can be bailed out by the rules. They happen in pro golf quite often.) On the left of the fence is a sandy border, then a cart path, then the grass. For the purposes of the tournament, the sandy border is one with the cart path. Together, they are considered an immoveable obstruction, or abnormal course condition. 

Since Kim’s ball technically sat on what would be considered the same immovable obstruction, if he could prove that he would be able to make a reasonable play on the ball, he would be able to argue for relief from the area in the same way pros and 18-handicaps alike take free drops when their ball comes to rest on a cart path. 

On paper, this seems to check out just fine, except for the fact that Kim would have to do some arguing that he could make a play at the ball. In this case, he argued that he could do so reasonably by hopping the fence and striking the ball with a swing from the other side. The rules official agreed. 

In that moment, Kim was set free. The nearest point of relief from the immovable obstruction was directly to the left, across the cart path, and in the rough. A free drop back into a much better lie. When reached by GOLF.com, the PGA Tour’s Rules Committee explained it like this: “In S.H. Kim’s scenario, he could have played a sideways stroke on the other side of the fence (which is what he said he would do), therefore he was able to get free relief.”

What’s the lesson here? If you’re a pro golfer, arguing your intentions to perform even an abnormal shot can work out in your favor. Kim is allowed to play his next shot from a decent lie forward rather than having to punch out sideways, which is what he (and the official) determined was reasonable.

But Sami Valimaki clearly had a different approach. 

Three days after Kim’s ruling, Valimaki found himself trailing by two on the 72nd hole of the tournament. He was desperate to make a birdie and put pressure on the leader, Jake Knapp , and did almost the same exact thing Kim did. He blew his tee shot out to the right and found his ball resting in the sand. Since he was in contention, we got a much better look at Valimaki’s lie, with his Callaway ball nestled between two tiny wire posts of the fence. 

Was it accessible for Valimaki, in the same way that it was argued by Kim? It’s hard to be sure. The balls were not in exactly the same spot, even if they were similar. Valimaki also had trees much closer to a plausible swing he would have made within the out-of-bounds area. 

“There’s no way to hit this ball, absolutely no way,” walking reporter John Wood said on the NBC broadcast. 

Valimaki seemed to agree. There was no thought to hop the fence and analyze an escape plan. Perhaps he knew the Rules of Golf as well as anyone. Perhaps he was just focused on other things. His main question for the rules official was about his standing in the tournament . Taking a drop with a penalty would have brought him closer to tying for 2nd, rather than finishing 2nd outright. The difference there is massive for a pro contending for the first time on the PGA Tour. 

In this case, there’s an exception to the rule that Kim used. If it is unreasonable to play from the position the ball has come to rest in, the player is not granted free relief, even if it rests on an abnormal course condition. That’s what the rules committee said after the tournament was complete:

“In Sami’s case it was clearly unreasonable for him to play a stroke. The exception to Rule 16.1 applies.”

Some viewers see the two situations and believe them to be identical. Others will view them as distant cousins. Thus is the nature of the Rules of Golf, which have plenty of grey area that is open to interpretation. Apropos of nothing, Kim sent his next shot out of bounds, en route to a triple-bogey 8, while Valimaki took his penalty drop in a similar area and scrambled for a par to close out the best finish of his PGA Tour career. 

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In Calling a (Pricey) Penalty on Himself, Sahith Theegala Takes the High Road

Bob harig | sep 2, 2024.

ATLANTA — Sahith Theegala potentially cost himself several million dollars with a noble move on Saturday that resulted in a penalty that—had it been let go—in no way would have helped him. And it undoubtedly would not have been noticed by anyone watching.

Theegala is understandably getting a lot of praise for his actions, which in some circles would be expected but, given the circumstances, makes you wonder about golf’s rules—something he noted.

He called a two-shot penalty on himself early in the third round of the Tour Championship at East Lake when he sensed that he might have grazed or moved a few grains of sand during his backswing from a fairway bunker shot.

Sahith Theegala self-reported a two-stroke penalty for touching the sand with his club during his backswing. He currently moves from -13 to -11, but will have the opportunity to review the penalty with a rules official following his round. pic.twitter.com/rLAgGJGZ5c — PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 31, 2024

Television replays could not definitively say that any such violation occurred, making it all the more agonizing for Theegala, who immediately summoned the other player in his group, Xander Schauffele, and a PGA Tour rules official.

It was Theegala’s hope that because it didn’t improve his lie or the shot, no penalty would be called. But he was soon informed intent is not an issue, and if he touched the sand in trying to make the swing, it was a penalty.

Rules officials were prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt, as the replays did not show anything. But Theegala said it didn’t sit right with him.

“Oh, I wouldn't be able to sleep,” he said afterward. “I was describing the situation—no matter what the outcome was, I needed to know what the actual rule was. Even though me and Xander thought it's just whatever, it's fine, you touched a grain of sand, didn't mean to move it, you're good.

“I decided to call the rules official right away on that green. But either way, I would have asked the rules officials after the round, too, or somehow found out what the rule was, and if I didn't ask a rules official and I went back home and looked up the rule—it was sitting in my mind.

“Again, intuition, it felt like I moved the sand. It was sitting in my mind. If I went back after the round, looked that up and found out that it was a two-shot penalty, I would be DQ'd (disqualified) right now. So I am glad I brought it up right away. I know the rules of golf a little bit better now. There is a lot of silly stuff you can do in the bunker. You can chuck a club in the bunker, you can literally stand—you can use your golf club as a stand in the bunker. As long as it's not right next to your ball.

“There's a lot of things you can do. But unfortunately if it's in the area affecting the lie and the swing of your shot, regardless of intent, it's a two-shot penalty.”

Theegala undoubtedly gained a lot of respect for his decision, and it seems fitting he did it at East Lake, the original home of Bobby Jones. The founder of Augusta National and winner of the Grand Slam in 1930 famously called a penalty on himself that has long been held up as an example of honor.

During the first round of the 1925 U.S. Open at Worcester Country Club, Jones, then 23, believed he might have moved the ball while addressing a shot out of the rough on the 11th hole. Nobody could determine if he, indeed, had caused the ball to move, and a rules official told him there would be no penalty. But Jones ultimately decided it was deserved and added one stroke to his score.

Jones ended up in a playoff with Willy Macfarlane, who tied him after 18 holes, which at the time necessitated another 18 holes to decide the outcome. Although Jones led by four during that round, Macfarlane ended up winning his only major when Jones failed to get up and down from a bunker on the last hole, prevailing by a stroke. (Jones won seven professional majors and another six of the best amateur titles.)

When praised for his integrity, Jones famously said: “You might as well congratulate me for not robbing a bank.”

Theegala ended up third in the FedEx Cup standings , six shots behind winner Scottie Scheffler and two behind Collin Morikawa. It’s impossible to know for sure how much those two shots impacted him in the end, but based on the purse numbers, had he tied with Morikawa he’d have earned $2.5 million extra.

As it worked out, Morikawa got $12.5 million in bonus money while Theegala got $7.5 million.

Decoding Monahan

Jay Monahan didn’t give up much when speaking to the media last week at the Tour Championship as it relates to the PGA Tour’s negotiations with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.

The PGA Tour commissioner, understandably, is not going to offer a lot of details about the talks and has said on several times he won’t negotiate in the media.

But there are some clues as to how he might feel about things, if you sift through all the words. Here is an attempt to decipher what he might have really been saying.

> When asked about the status of the negotiations with the PIF, Monahan said:

 “I think the best way for me to respond to that is when you look at where we are right now, we're in regular dialogue.

“We have the right people at the table with the right mindset. I see that in all of these conversations, and that's both sides. That creates optimism about the future and our ability to come together. But at the same time, these conversations are complex. They're going to take time. They have taken time, and they will continue to take time.

“As I sit here today, I think the most important thing for us and our obligations to our fans, our players and our partners is to focus on what we control, which we're doing, as I outlined, and to continue to carry this momentum forward.

“But I'm not going to negotiate details in public or disclose details or specifics. All I can say is that conversations continue, and they're productive.”

Another way to say it: The Tour is in no hurry to make a deal and will continue to push forward with what it is doing aside from LIV Golf.

> Asked if he was concerned that some sponsors or TV partners are taking a wait-and-see attitude toward future commitments until there is some resolution with the PIF, Monahan said:

“When you think about the media partners that we have and the length of partnership, to have the power of NBC and Golf Channel, CBS Sports, ESPN+, our international partners, and to have the portfolio of sponsors that we have, many of whom have been here for decades who believe strongly in the competitive platform and fabric of the PGA Tour, but they also believe very strongly in their and our duty to make a positive impact in the communities where we're invited to play and in the charities that rest and sit in those communities.

“When I look at where we are in '25, as I said, we were really proud to announce that schedule and to have the support of our great partners, and we will continue to work very closely with all of them, in '25 and beyond '25, with a focus on continuing to innovate, continuing to drive this business forward together and collectively.”

What he didn’t say: Monahan pointed to officials who were sitting in the front row from the Travelers Championship as an example of happy sponsors, which was a bit disingenuous. Travelers is signed on through 2030 and has one of the best events on Tour, especially now that it is a signature event played the week after the U.S. Open.

But there are sponsors who are waiting to see what transpires, including RBC, which for the second year straight year has renewed for just a single year at both the RBC Heritage and RBC Canadian Open. As for the charitable impact, the Tour has already moved to take over a few more events that it will own through its Championship Management arm, which starting next year will run what is now the Truist Championship, formerly the Wells Fargo. That is but one way the Tour will attempt to make money for its for-profit PGA Tour Enterprises. Does that mean less for charity?

> Asked about the possibility of LIV golfers coming back to the PGA Tour since there is a pathway back on the DP World Tour (via a fine and suspension system), Monahan said:

“As it relates to any details of the conversations that we're having with the Public Investment Fund, I'm not going to disclose details. I'm not going to get into specifics.

“But I will tell you when you look at what has happened on the PGA Tour over the last couple of years, to think about PGA Tour University, to now have 20 players that have access to the Korn Ferry Tour and the PGA Tour, to have these new and emerging stars, some of whom are still in college, like Luke Clanton, earning points and demonstrating to the world that they're coming and that they're capable of competing at the highest level, to the strength that we see at the Korn Ferry Tour, to the path that we have at the DP World Tour and our great alliance there, and those 10 players have come this way, three of whom have made it into the FedEx Cup playoffs. The system that we have, which extends to the international tours around the world, is really performing at a really high level, and that's what we're excited about.”

Another way to say it: The Tour feels good about its system of promoting young players and seeing others come to the Tour via the DP World Tour. It doesn’t appear concerned with players who are now part of LIV, certainly not a majority of them, and a path back for LIV golfers is not a top-of-mind concern.

> Asked why there is even a need to negotiate another deal with the PIF given the extensive investment in January by the Strategic Sports Group, which has pumped $1.5 billion into PGA Tour Enterprises, with vague plans to grow the business while giving PGA Tour players equity shares in the new company, Monahan said:

“I think when you look at where we are today and when you think about—and what we hear from fans and what we're hearing from players, ultimately we're both in a position to bring the best players in the world back together. I think that's a good and aspirational goal.

“As I said earlier, we're in those discussions. We're at the table. They're complex, and it's going to take time. But ultimately, PGA Tour is the greatest tour in the world, and we're going to continue to focus on the things that we control, and I think as I've outlined, I'm really proud of the accomplishments our players and entire team have captured together.

“I think it's the right time to be having these conversations, and it's the right time not only for the PGA Tour but for the game. That's why we've committed ourselves to those conversations.”

Another way to say it: Even though the Tour initially set a deadline with the PIF for Dec. 31 of last year, it is no longer in any hurry to make a deal with the PIF now that it has the $1.5 billion in investment from SSG and all manner of things to do related to that. But it makes sense to mention the talking points fans care about most—bringing the best back together more often—even if there is seemingly no urgency to doing so.

 Adam Scott’s major streak

It got a good bit of attention in June when it appeared that Adam Scott was going to see a long streak of consecutive major championship appearances come to an end when he was not exempt for the U.S. Open at Pinehurst.

Scott went through final qualifying, lost in a playoff, then ultimately got into the field as one of the alternates to keep the streak alive, then extended it when he tied for 10th at the British Open, a tournament he qualified for last year with a high finish at the Australian Open.

That means Scott has played in 93 consecutive major championships dating to the 2001 Open, a remarkable stretch of consistency and good fortune.

By qualifying for the season-ending Tour Championship, Scott is all but assured of making it into all four major championships in 2025. The top 30 designation is a direct qualification criteria for the Masters, U.S. Open and Open. Scott is in the Masters for life as a past champion. And the PGA Championship, which does not have an official world ranking designation, typically invites all of those who are in the top 100 in the Official World Ranking. Scott is also likely to make it via the PGA’s points list which is based on PGA Tour performance.

Assuming all of that and no injury issues, Scott would then run his major streak to 97 in a row through 2025.

The only player in history to play in 100 straight was Jack Nicklaus, who played an astounding 146 in a row starting at the 1962 Masters through the 1998 U.S. Open.

Scott—again if healthy—would get to 98 straight at the 2026 Masters.

The Creator Classic

Luke Kwon defeated Wesley Bryan, Sean Walsh and Roger Steele in a sudden-death playoff last week at East Lake Golf Club in the inaugural Creator Classic, an event put on by the PGA Tour in an effort to tap into an ever-growing YouTube audience of fans who consume their golf in huge numbers through that medium.

While the names of the players might not be as prominent as Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele, they are well known in the YouTube space. The Tour invited 16 of the most prominent YouTube stars who have hundreds of thousands of followers and the live streaming broadcast did more than 100,000 viewers on the Tour’s YouTube channel.

How the Tour attempts to capitalize on this in the future is unclear, but it has more plans for Creator events in 2025 and might consider integrating Tour players and even highlights into content.

Bryson DeChambeau has already built a big YouTube following with his channel that has numerous different ways to approach golf, including series where he and another player try to break 50 in a best-ball competition for nine holes from the front tees.

Xander's year ... and other notes

It is rare for a player to win two major championships in the same year and be looking up at someone who had a better season. But that is what Xander Schauffele faces at the end of 2024, a year that saw him win two major championships but likely will see Scottie Scheffler get the Tour’s Player of the Year award.

It's quite possible that Schauffele will garner plenty of support, but it’s tough to deny the year of Scheffler, who won seven times on the PGA Tour, including the Masters, the Players Championship and the season-ending Tour Championship.

Schauffele broke through for his first major win at the PGA Championship and then played an incredible back nine at Royal Troon to capture the British Open. He became the first player since Brooks Koepka in 2018 to win two majors in a year.

He also had a total of 15 top-10 finishes in 19 tournaments and has now made 55 consecutive cuts, the longest streak since Steve Stricker got to 49 in 2012 and the best effort of anyone since Tiger Woods made 142 in a row, a streak that ended in 2005.

And yet ... Scheffler won seven times as well as the Olympic gold. He didn’t miss a cut all year and posted 16 top-10s.

“He's been playing unbelievable golf,” said Schauffele, who tied for fourth at the Tour Championship. “I feel like we're all just chasing him. I've done probably the best job of getting the closest to him, but it's still very far away. Just a lot of credit to him and his team for putting together a really special year.”

And a few more things

> Captains Jim Furyk and Mike Weir will make their respective at-large picks for their Presidents Cup teams Tuesday. The event begins Sept. 26 at Royal Montreal.

> Keegan Bradley , who won the BMW Championship last week and moved to 10th in the Presidents Cup standings, said he won’t be part of Furyk’s selection process for the American side, even though he is an assistant captain. Bradley is the 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup captain. And his own playing candidacy has made for a bit of an awkward situation . “We had a great conversation,” Bradley said of a chat with Furyk. “He's got a tough choice ahead of him. I don't know which way it's going to go, but like I said, I'm happy to play whatever role I need to play for the team. Whatever role I play is going to help me for Bethpage and start the year I wanted to play on this team. I would love to play, but if Jim has other plans, I totally understand.”

> Among some other tough calls for Furyk: does he take Max Homa , who has struggled for a few months but was a strong U.S. player the last two years? What about Justin Thomas , the subject of so much derision for his pick at the Ryder Cup last year?

> After finishing second to Bryson DeChambeau at the U.S. Open, Rory McIlroy was rather quiet the rest of the season. He tied for fourth at the Scottish Open but missed the cut at the British Open, was in contention for a medal at the Olympics before a late double bogey and then was basically a non-factor in the playoff events. He ended tied for ninth in the final standings.

“My season is not over, obviously,” said McIlroy, who will play the Irish Open, the BMW PGA Championship, the Dunhill Links Championship as well as two season-ending events in the U.A.E. as part of his DP World Tour schedule.

“I’ve still got five events left to play. But I feel like the tournaments came thick and fast, and obviously with the Olympics thrown in there, as well, this year, it sort of condensed everything a bit. I think it was obviously a great season. It's been a long season, and I'm going to just have to think about trying to build in a few extra breaks here and there next year and going forward because I felt like I hit a bit of a wall sort of post-U.S. Open, and still feel a little bit of that hangover.”

Bob Harig is a senior writer covering golf for Sports Illustrated. He has more than 25 years experience on the beat, including 15 at ESPN. Harig is a regular guest on Sirius XM PGA Tour Radio and has written two books, "DRIVE: The Lasting Legacy of Tiger Woods" and "Tiger and Phil: Golf's Most Fascinating Rivalry." He graduated from Indiana University where he earned an Evans Scholarship, named in honor of the great amateur golfer Charles (Chick) Evans Jr. Harig, a former president of the Golf Writers Association of America, lives in Clearwater, Fla.

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Major Change: New Procedure for Dropping a Ball Golf's New Rules

Golf's New Rules: Major Changes

New Rule:  Players continue to drop a ball when taking relief, but the dropping procedure is changed in several ways as detailed in Rule 14.3:

• How a ball may be dropped is simplified; the only requirement is that the ball be let go from knee height so that it falls through the air and does not touch any part of the player’s body or equipment before it hits the ground.

Reasons for Change:

The new procedure lowers the height from which the ball is dropped to increase the chance that it stays within the relief area.

Requiring the player to drop a ball (as opposed to placing it) retains a desired randomness about where the ball ends up:

• The player has no guarantee that the ball will come to rest on a desired spot or in a good lie.
• This is especially the case when a ball is dropped in more difficult conditions such as thick rough or longer grass.

Allowing the player to drop a ball from knee height helps to limit the extent to which a ball will embed in sand in a bunker.

Tour Championship

East Lake Golf Club

HOW SCOTTIE GOT SO GOOD

Cartpath Confusion

The good news is, you don't have to play a shot in which your stance or swing is interfered with by an artificial cartpath. The rules permit you to drop within one club-length of the nearest point of relief that allows you to stand and swing freely without interference from the path (Rule 24-2, immovable obstruction). The nearest point and drop zone can't be closer to the hole, and it's recommended that the spot be determined by using the club, stance, direction and swing you would have used if the obstruction had not been there.

Sounds simple, but keep in mind the drop zone could be in a different place depending on whether you intend to swing left-handed or right-handed. Consult the diagram ( above ) for help understanding where to drop.

A player is entitled to relief without penalty from any path to which a foreign material (e.g., tar, gravel, dirt) has been applied. A player would not get relief from a dirt path created by vehicle traffic unless it had been defined as ground under repair.

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Sahith Theegala calls two-shot penalty on himself at TOUR Championship

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ATLANTA – Bobby Jones once famously said, “You may as well praise a man for not robbing a bank,” after he was commended for calling a penalty for himself.

At the course where Jones grew up, Sahith Theegala exhibited similar sportsmanship on Saturday. Theegala called a two-stroke penalty on the third hole of the TOUR Championship’s third round after moving sand in a greenside bunker. The penalty resulted in a double-bogey.

“It was an unusual lie,” Theegala said, “and I usually pick up the club and take it back, but because of the lie, right on my backswing, I felt like I moved a few grains of sand for sure.

“I've played so much golf. You kind of just trust your intuition and gut, and right away I thought I moved some sand there.”

Theegala was still unsure whether it was a penalty, given there was no intent. But after consulting with playing partner Xander Schauffele, Theegala called for a rules official who confirmed it was a penalty regardless of intent.

“It was just unfortunate. But I did -- pretty sure I breached the rules, so I'm paying the price for it, and I feel good about it,” Theegala said. “... At the end of the day I'm good with the ruling, and I think it's very fair that I was assessed two shots.”

Theegala bounced back admirably from the infraction, playing the rest of the front nine in even-par before catching fire on the back. He finished with seven birdies in his last eight holes to card a 5-under 66 despite the penalty. Theegala is solo third at 17-under, nine shots back of Scheffler. Theegala is four shots behind Collin Morikawa in second and one shot ahead of Xander Schauffele.

Those two shots will loom large on Sunday as Theegala pursues the FedExCup. Theegala is nine shots back and one of only three players within 10 shots of Scheffler. It would be historic if Theegala overcame that deficit. The largest final-round comeback in TOUR Championship history (since the Starting Strokes format), was Rory McIlroy’s six-shot comeback over Scheffler in 2022.

There is still plenty on the line for Theegala. The difference in prize money between second and third place is $5 million ($12.5 million for second; $7.5 million for third).

“My caddie, Carl, kept telling me that I've been playing awesome,” Theegala said. “Just keep doing your thing. Two shots is a lot, but at the end of the day you've got a lot more golf to play. Tried to use it as a positive.”