Was that OK for him to pick his ball up yesterday on the last hole BEFORE he got a ruling on whether his ball was plugged or not? The ruling was that it WASN’T. I would have thought you’d let the rules guy determine that.

I must admit I didn’t see the incident, but he might have been checking to make sure the ball was his.

I did not see the incident either, but if the player picks up his ball before the referee arrives in a case where the most important thing is the lie, he most likely will not get the Ruling he seeks!

The player must comply with what’s said in Decision 20-1/0.7 and he must give the referee “opportunity to observe”.

Snipped from this Decision:
”...In equity (Rule 1-4), if a player has reason to believe he is entitled to relief from a condition, the player may lift his ball, without penalty, provided he announces his intention in advance to his opponent in match play or his marker or fellow-competitor in stroke play, marks the position of the ball before lifting it, does not clean the ball and gives his opponent or fellow-competitor an opportunity to observe the lifting…”

Was that OK for him to pick his ball up yesterday on the last hole BEFORE he got a ruling on whether his ball was plugged or not? The ruling was that it WASN’T. I would have thought you’d let the rules guy determine that.

Where was the referee when he lifted the ball?

I watched the telecast.
I think the ball was not touched until a referee arrrived.
PH apparently asked for a second opinion and a smiling John Paramor arrived and concluded the ball was not embedded.
One thing with TV the viewer canot conclude he is seeing everything as it happens.
As well viewers can and do make mistakes.

Yeah I was watching and never saw him pick up the ball during the incident.

He did mark it before he picked it up and no doubt probably told Rory he was going to get a ruling but being unsure of the rule, I thought it strange.
During a normal round in a Sat comp for instance, you’d call your marker over first right?
Anyway, must be OK in a pro event as no one said anything.