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4 days ago | 
golfdigest.com | Ron Kaspriske
You probably know that if a ball is on you line of putt, you can not only ask the owner to mark the ball, you also can have the marker moved off your line. It happens all the time. The last thing you want is a poker chip deflecting your ball away from the only birdie of the summer. You also might know that if someone's ball is on your line of play, and there is a reasonable chance your ball might collide with it when it's your turn to hit, you can have it marked.
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1 week ago | 
golfdigest.com | Ron Kaspriske
Every golfer in the pro ranks has some aspect of his or her swing that stands out. For big Sepp Straka (above), who has three wins on the PGA Tour, it's the power he generates swinging down. Sure, he's listed as 6-foot-3, 235 pounds in the PGA Tour media guide (and probably bigger in real life), so you could argue his massive body is the reason his swing looks so powerful.
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1 week ago | 
golfdigest.com | Ron Kaspriske
The damage is done and the evidence is clear: The riding mower that just went by murdered your golf ball. Even worse, what's left of the ball appears to have been relocated by the blades, and you're not sure where it came to rest before getting torn apart. You hit it in the rough and it's now at the edge of the fairway. Can you just drop a new ball there and play on? Do you have to replay the shot?
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3 weeks ago | 
golfdigest.com | Ron Kaspriske
What happens when a natural force—and we're not talking the explosion in "CaddyShack"—moves your ball? This is a situation that comes into play quite often, especially on seaside courses where winds can be howling. And there is a Rule that determines what should happen next. To clarify, "natural forces" does not mean shading a golf ball to get the grass blades to fall.
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3 weeks ago | 
golfdigest.com | Ron Kaspriske
In all fairness to the USGA and R&A, a major revision to the Rules of Golf was already in the works when the U.S. Open came to Oakmont Country Club in 2016. Still, it’s somewhat amusing to think that a golf ball moving just a fraction of an inch on a breezy summer day was the catalyst for a complete rewrite of the 600-plus-page book.
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4 weeks ago | 
golfdigest.com | Ron Kaspriske
It’s common to think of training muscles or muscle groups individually. You do dumbbell arm curls with the intent of getting bigger or toner biceps, right? Squats are for the glutes. Use the leg-extension machine to make the quadriceps firm. There’s nothing wrong with this mind-set, especially if you have very specific goals in the gym. However, golfers might want to change their thinking if their visits to the gym are performance-oriented for the golf course.
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1 month ago | 
golfdigest.com | Ron Kaspriske
Among the countless changes to the Rules of Golf in the past five or six years is the terminology used to describe certain things or situations. For example, using the term “all square” in match play when describing a situation when neither side is up. That is soooo pre-2019. The term is now simply “tied.” Also, you’ll be tempted to say you’re in a “water hazard” when it goes into a pond or stream, but your ball is actually in a “penalty area” according to the USGA and R&A.
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1 month ago | 
golfdigest.com | Ron Kaspriske
This list of major-championship winners who swing a golf club with their lead wrist in flexion at the top of the swing (bowed, bent toward the palm) is pretty impressive. Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm, Jordan Spieth, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa—even Arnold Palmer and Lee Trevino did it in their heydays. If you wonder why so many golfers do it, it's because it does a lot to square and deloft the clubface at impact without any split-second hand manipulations.
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1 month ago | 
golfdigest.com | Ron Kaspriske
If you play golf on a course with a lot of trees, what we're about to describe might sound a little too familar: It's not uncommon to hit a golf ball toward the tree line only to see it disappear into the branches, needles or leaves and never come down. Palm trees are especially stingy when it comes to returning golf balls to their proper owners. Just ask Sergio Garcia (below).
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1 month ago | 
golfdigest.com | Ron Kaspriske
Rory McIlroy plays by the rules, but that doesn't mean he hasn't found himself in a handful of interesting rules dilemmas over the years—especially when standing in bunkers. You might recall his 2009 bunker incident at the Masters. After leaving a bunker shot in the sand on the par-4 finishing hole, McIlroy appeared to have kicked the sand in frustration (a two-stroke penalty).
