Embedded Ball or Not Embedded Ball, that is the Question
Aloha, in this week's blog we'll discuss a couple of things that happened during Thursday's round at the Memorial Tournament. The first incident involved Matt Kuchar. He asked for relief for his ball which he believed was embedded in the General Area. Relief was not granted. He asked for, and got, a second opinion which confirmed the original decision. The Referee showed him the Rule in the Rule Book before he accepted the decision. The issue? His ball was NOT in his own pitch mark. It had rolled into a previously made pitch mark in the General Area. Rule 16.3a (2) defines when a ball is embedded and when relief is allowed. It must be in its own pitch mark made as a result of the players previous shot and part of the ball must be below the level of the ground. Unfortunately for Matt, his ball was in a pitch mark made by another player's ball. No free relief. He played the ball and saved par with a great up and dow...