Famous US Open Rulings #4

Going back to Oakland Hills in 1985, another challenger to Andy North ran afoul of the rules. His fate led to a rules change three years later. Denis Watson had a putt in the first round at the 8th hole for a par 4. The putt hung on the lip. Watson walked up and waited to see if the ball drop in the hole on its own. Eventually his ball did drop in the hole. Before he teed off on #9 he was told that he had waited too long for the ball to drop and that he would be penalized 2 strokes. So, his 4 became a 6.

Rule 16-2 said that if you waited over 10 seconds, the ball was deemed to be at rest and that you must make your stroke. Since Watson waited longer than that and his ball fell in the hole, he was penalized 2 strokes.

Three days later, Watson lost to Andy North by one stroke. From the moment the penalty was assessed, there were those who felt it was too harsh a punishment. Those on the Rules of Golf Committee felt that way and in 1988, the rule was changed so that it became a one-stroke penalty which made it just the same as if the player had tapped in. Today, Watson would score a 5 if the ball fell in after the 40+ seconds he waited or if he tapped it in after 10 seconds.  In other words, there is now no advantage to waiting more than ten seconds and no punishment for doing so, unless the player unduly delayed play.