Movable Obstruction?

This one is courtesy of Peter Rigsbee on the Island of Hawaii.

The wind was blowing really hard.  How hard your ask?  Hard enough to blow the flagstick out of the hole.  The question becomes  --  is the player penalized if:

     His/Her shot from the fairway hits the flagstick laying on the green?
   
     His/Her chip shot hits the flagstick laying on the green?

     Her/His putt hits the flagstick laying on the green?

My immediate response to Peter turned out to be wrong, as I found out after querying the USGA Rules Department.

A dozen (cheap) golf balls to the first person responding with the correct answer and the cited rule/interpretation.


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