Six new PGA Tour rules come into effect – from fairway relief to pitch marks and club repairs.
On Tuesday, the PGA Tour announced five new local model rules to players and added a rule change regarding preferred lies. This brings a total of six new rules starting next week at the season opener, the Sony Open in Honolulu, Hawaii. Steven Rintoul, Vice President of Rules and Officiating for the PGA Tour, told golf.com: ‘Good, sensible outcomes for top-level golf.’ He explained that these new local model rules, adopted by the USGA and R&A starting January 1, 2026, continue the modernization of the rulebook initiated in 2019.
Below we present the new rules and local model rules and explain the reasoning behind these changes:
New Golf Rule Clarifies Penalties for Unintended Ball Movements
According to Rule 9.4b, a player incurs a penalty stroke if they move their stationary ball and fail to replace it before their next stroke, even if they did not know the ball had moved or could have moved. However, the player is not deemed to have played from the wrong place (Rule 14.7a – two penalty strokes) if later it is found they caused the ball to move.
If the player noticed the ball moved but does not replace it and plays from the new spot, the general penalty for playing from the wrong place per Rule 14.7a applies. Likewise, if later it is determined the player caused the ball to move but mistakenly thought otherwise and did not replace it, the general penalty applies.
This new rule stems from an incident involving Shane Lowry at the 2025 Open Championship in Royal Portrush, where he slightly moved the ball during a practice swing at the 12th hole without realizing it. After the round, officials assessed a two-stroke penalty after reviewing video footage. Lowry found the penalty hard to accept but accepted it without contest.
Penalty-Free Relief Now Allowed for Ball in Another Player’s Pitch Mark
The next rule change addresses when a player’s ball rests in the pitch mark of another player. Previously, penalty-free relief was only allowed if the ball lay in the player’s own pitch mark. Now, under Rule 16.3b, a player may take penalty-free relief if an official determines the ball lies in a pitch mark below ground level made by another player’s stroke. Repaired pitch marks are excluded from this and considered repaired regardless of repair quality or completeness, including those fixed by club, object, foot, or even lawnmower passes if an indentation remains.
This change follows repeated incidents, including another at the 2025 Open Championship where Lowry’s relief request was denied after his ball landed in a