Six new PGA Tour rules take effect, covering fairway relief, pitch marks, and club repairs.
On Tuesday, the PGA Tour informed players of five new local model rules and added a rule change concerning preferred lies. The season will kick off with a total of six new rules next week at the Sony Open in Honolulu, Hawaii. Steven Rintoul, PGA Tour’s Vice President of Rules and Officiating, spoke to golf.com: ‘Good, sensible outcomes for top-level golf.’ He explained that these new local model rules, adopted by the USGA and R&A effective January 1, 2026, continue the modernization efforts of the rules that began in 2019.
Below we present the new rules and local model rules and explain the reasons behind these decisions:
New Golf Rule Clarifies Penalties for Unintended Ball Movements
According to Rule 9.4b, a player receives a penalty stroke if they move a resting ball and fail to replace it before the next stroke, even if they were unaware the ball moved or could have moved. The player is not considered to have played from a wrong place (Rule 14.7a – two penalty strokes) if it is later discovered they caused the ball’s movement.
If a player notices the ball moved but does not replace it and plays from the new spot, they receive the general penalty under Rule 14.7a for playing from the wrong place. Also, if it is later found that the player moved the ball but wrongly assumed they did not and should 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 noticing. After the round, officials, using video evidence, penalized Lowry two strokes after lengthy discussion. Lowry said the penalty was hard to accept but accepted it without dispute.
Penalty-Free Relief Now Allowed When Ball Lies in Another Player’s Pitch Mark
The next rule change concerns situations where a player’s ball rests in another player’s pitch mark. 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 is granted penalty-free relief if an official confirms the ball lies in a pitch mark below ground level caused by another player’s shot. Repaired pitch marks remain unaffected by this rule, regardless of repair quality. A pitch mark repaired with a club, another object, foot, or even mowed-over by the greenskeeper is considered repaired.
Repeated occurrences, including one with Shane Lowry at the 2025 Open Championship where his relief request was denied after landing in a pitch mark, led to this change. Lowry missed his approach shot and expressed frustration on the turf.