You only have 10 seconds, after a reasonable amount of time, to see if the golf ball goes into the hole.
American Lee Hodges took a tough shot at par on the 17th hole in his third round of the PGA Championship.
Hodges looked like he had read the line beautifully, but somehow the ball missed the edge of the hole and stopped on the edge.
Hodges was painfully close to going into the hole and was waiting to see if the ball would go into the net. Playing partner Jordan Spieth urged him to wait, saying “I think he’ll pop in.”
He finally fell into the hole. But he did so a full 35 seconds after Hodges hit the ball, violating Rule 13 of the Rules of Golf.
You really only have 10 seconds to wait before the ball is considered stationary. After this time, regardless of what happens to the golf ball, it should be returned to the edge of the hole.
13.3 Hole protruding from the ball
A. Waiting time to see if an overhanging ball goes into a hole
If any part of the player’s ball extends over the edge of the hole:
The player has a reasonable amount of time to reach the hole and an additional ten seconds to see if the ball goes into the hole.
If the ball is holed out during this waiting time, the player has holed out with the previous stroke.
If the ball is not holed out within this waiting time:
The ball is considered to be at rest.
If the ball is holed out before the hole is played, the player is out of the hole on the previous stroke, but incurs one penalty stroke added to the score for the hole.
After the round, the PGA Championship officials penalized Hodges with 1 penalty stroke.
“While playing on the 17th hole, Hodges made his first edge putt and waited over 10 seconds after going into the hole behind his ball. The ball then fell into the hole after the 10-second time limit provided for in the rule. As a result, Hodges received a one-stroke penalty under Rule 13.3a and the ball was holed out.
