El Sony Open will kick off the year and the season next week on the PGA Tour. Remember that the Tournament of Champions, which was held the week before in Kapalua, was cancelled due to the severe drought that has affected that area in recent times, preventing the course from being presented in minimum playable conditions. With the arrival of the new season, some changes in the rules or interesting modifications will also be introduced. The two main ones relate to the way of taking relief on the fairway under winter rules or the embedded ball in the fairway.
Modification of placed ball (winter rules): The relief area for placing the ball when applying winter rules has been reduced from a club length to the length of the scorecard. In other words, what is done on the DP World Tour.
Extension of relief for embedded ball: From now on, players will have relief for an embedded ball when their ball falls into any unrepaired mark in an area cut to fairway height or lower. Previously, this relief was only granted if it was their own mark. The embedded ball must penetrate the ground, so it does not refer to old divots.
Reduction of penalty when the player is unaware that their ball may have moved: Previously, players received a two-stroke penalty when they caused their ball to move, whether consciously or unconsciously, and then played the next stroke without replacing the ball. Now, if a player plays a stroke from a wrong place and was unaware, the penalty will be only one stroke.
Modification regarding obstructions near the greens: Relief for line of play regarding immovable obstructions will normally be granted when they are within two club lengths of the green, and this will now also include holes or ground under repair caused by the removal of those objects, provided the ball and condition are in an area cut to fairway height or lower.
Internal out of bounds only from the tee: This is a new option offered to committees: all strokes played from the teeing area that end in an internal out of bounds will be considered out of bounds, but other strokes (not played from the tee) will not.
Repair of a broken or significantly damaged club: Players will now be able to replace a broken or significantly damaged club with components they carry on the course. For example, if a club face cracks, the player can immediately replace it with a spare head they carry in their bag or that another person or player carries. It is understood that this will always be as long as the damage was caused accidentally and not intentionally.
Distance measuring devices not allowed on the PGA Tour: However, they will be allowed on the PGA Tour Champions, the Korn Ferry Tour, and the PGA Tour Americas, although the slope function and other non-traditional features must be disabled. The PGA Tour tested allowing rangefinders last spring at the RBC Heritage and the Zurich Classic. Presumably, they will continue to be allowed at the PGA Championship.
