[Golf Rules... Knowledge Is Power] If You Play Another Player's Ball

Mexico Open Round 2: Wrong-Ball Play on No. 9

Kim Joo-hyung and Campbell Make Bizarre Mistake in Bunker

Each Receives a Two-Stroke Penalty; Scores Corrected to Double Bogeys

Golf has no referees. It is a “gentleman’s sport” in which golfers follow the rules and play on their own. The rules of golf are “helpers” designed to assist players. Knowing them well and applying them appropriately can also help golfers manage their scores. These are golf rules that weekend golfers should know.

World No. 29 Tom Kim was penalized for what is known as “playing the wrong ball,” after mistaking another player’s ball for his own.

Tom Kim was assessed a two-stroke penalty for playing the wrong ball from a bunker on the ninth hole during the second round of the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld. AP-Yonhap.

On October 31 (Korea time), Kim received a penalty for a rules violation during the second round of the VidantaWorld Mexico Open, a PGA Tour “fall series” event with a total purse of $6 million, held at Vidanta Vallarta (par 71) in Bahía de Banderas, Nayarit, Mexico.

Starting on the 10th hole, Kim made a mistake on the ninth hole, his last of the round, a par 4, after his second shot landed in a greenside bunker. Brian Campbell of the United States, who was playing alongside Kim, also hit his ball into the same bunker, and the two players ended up playing each other’s balls. As a result, both players received two-stroke penalties and had to replay their bunker shots. They both ultimately carded double bogeys. Kim was tied for 26th at the end of the second round.

Kim bounced back with outstanding play in the remaining rounds. He shot a 6-under-par 65 in the third round and a 5-under-par 66 in the fourth. The two players who had played the wrong balls finished tied for sixth at 18-under-par 266.

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