Six new PGA Tour rules come into effect—ranging from fairway relief to pitch marks and club repairs.
On Tuesday, the PGA Tour informed players of five new local model rules and added a change regarding preferred lies. The season opens next week at the Sony Open in Honolulu, Hawaii, with a total of six new rules. Steven Rintoul, PGA Tour Vice President for Rules and Officials, told golf.com: ‘Good, sensible outcomes for golf at the highest level.’ He explained that these local model rules, approved by the USGA and R&A starting January 1, 2026, continue the modernization of the rules that began in 2019.
Below, we present the new rules and outline the decisions behind them:
New Golf Rule Clarifies Penalties for Unintentional Ball Movements
According to Rule 9.4b, a player receives a one-stroke penalty if they move their stationary ball and fail to replace it before the next stroke, even if unaware the ball moved or could have moved. The player does not play from a wrong place (Rule 14.7a – two-stroke penalty) if it later emerges they caused the movement. However, if the player notices the ball has moved but doesn’t replace it and plays from the new spot, they incur the general penalty for playing from the wrong place. This rule was prompted by Shane Lowry’s incident at the 2025 Open Championship, where he accidentally moved the ball during a practice swing; officials imposed a two-stroke penalty based on video evidence. Lowry accepted the penalty despite finding it difficult to accept.
Penalty-Free Relief Now Allowed When Ball Lies in Another Player’s Pitch Mark
The next rule change concerns when a ball lies in another player’s pitch mark. Previously, relief without penalty was only allowed if the ball lay in the player’s own pitch mark. With Rule 16.3b, a player may now take penalty-free relief if an official determines the ball is resting in a pitch mark created by another player’s shot below ground level. A repaired pitch mark, whether fixed intentionally or accidentally, is not covered by this rule. This change responds to repeated occurrences, including a recent case involving Shane Lowry at the 2025 Open, where relief was denied and frustration ensued.
\”Out of Bounds\” Applies Only from the Tee
Because players often sought advantages by using other holes’ fairways as shortcuts, inner boundary lines marked by white stakes will now denote out of bounds only when the ball is played from the tee. This prevents situations where players were severely restricted near obstacles, unable to chip back to their original fairway. The rule aims to deter advantageous shortcuts but now applies only from the tee box.
Additional PGA Tour Rule Updates
Players can now repair damaged clubs during a round with parts carried in their bags, improving previous procedures that required a long trip to change or fix a club. Relief areas for preferred lies on poor fairways are reduced from one club length to the length of a scorecard, aligning PGA Tour rules with other tournaments for fairer play. Furthermore, the PGA Tour expands its Player Equity Program to include the FedEx Cup top 50, increasing participants to over 213 with around $1.3 billion