Changes announced by the US Golf Association and the Royal & Ancient include "no longer penalising players when ball movement can be detected only by enhanced technology, a rule that hit Tiger Woods in September," according to the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. Golf's governing bodies "validated three other noteworthy changes, all of which will take effect" starting Jan. 1. Woods was "issued a two-stroke penalty at this year's US PGA playoff BMW Championship after his ball was deemed to have moved as he tried to clear loose impediments around it." The governing bodies said in a statement, "Where enhanced technological evidence shows that a ball has left its position and come to rest in another location, the ball will not be deemed to have moved if that movement was not reasonably discernible to the naked eye at the time." Other changes included "allowing players to access weather reports on portable telephones during rounds as a safety protection issue, illustrations to help clarify when a ball is to be considered embedded, and allowing a player to go forward up to about 50 yards without giving up the right to play a provisional ball" (SMH, 11/20).
