Sometimes the rules of golf are so deeply ingrained in our minds that we can’t let go of them, even after the rules have been changed. Many golf fans may have experienced that feeling last Sunday, when Wyndham Clark waved away in a water hazard.
You may have forgotten that the rules for grounding clubs in hazards changed a few years ago, but the 2023 US Open champion certainly didn’t. He took full advantage of the new rule to make an alien birdie up and down from a water hazard during the Hero World Challenge.
Here’s what you need to know.
Wyndham Clark’s watery practice swings raise eyebrows and end in a birdie
Entering the final round of the 2025 Hero World Challenge on Sunday, Clark was just three shots shy of Scottie Scheffler’s 54-hole lead. After a forgettable season on the track, Clark hoped to end his year with a bang.
When he put together a years-long up-and-down birdie on the 9th hole, it looked like he might be able to earn his first win since early 2024.
The 9th hole at Albany GC is a par-5 with a long, narrow lake running along the entire right side of the hole. Clark safely found the center of the fairway with his drive, but he wasn’t so lucky with his approach.
‘It’s not looking good’: Major champion criticizes course at Hero World Challenge
By means of:
Kevin Cunningham
From 310 yards out, Clark hit a shot from 249 yards that went right and ended up submerged at the edge of the lake, well inside the red posts marking the penalty area.
Rather than take a drop and swallow the penalty that would come with it, Clark decided to chop his ball out of the water and try to reach the green some 60 yards away.
But before he did, Clark stepped away from his ball, walked back to a nearby water area and took several practice swings, splashing his club through the water with each swing.
The sight of Clark chopping the water inside the red posts may have felt wrong to golfers with less intimate knowledge of the rules than the three-time PGA Tour winner. But he more than adhered to the rules, as the TV broadcast showed.
“That’s completely legal. That’s new. You can do this.”
Then came the magic. After his practice swings, Clark somehow made good contact with his real swing, sending his ball out of the water and floating on a high trajectory. His ball crashed onto the green and landed 25 feet away.
And you know what happened next. Clark drained the 25-footer for an incredible birdie-4.
Rule change for grounding clubs in penalty areas saves Clark
But back to Clark’s watery practice swings.
For centuries, ponds, lakes and streams marked with red stakes were commonly known as ‘water hazards’. At the time, most golfers knew not to ground their club anywhere within the red stakes area. This, of course, included practice swings that made contact with the ground within the obstacles. There was a similar rule regarding bunkers.
If the old rules had been in effect, Clark would not have been allowed to take full practice swings splashing his club into the water, as he did Sunday at the 9th hole. He would not even be allowed to touch the surface of the water with his club, nor any grassy area within the poles.
Fortunately for Clark, that rule has changed.
In 2019, the USGA and R&A revised many Rules of Golf in the interest of simplicity. The rule that applied to grounding clubs in danger zones was one of them. Firstly, the governing bodies announced that they would no longer use the term ‘water hazard’ to describe areas marked in red on the course, instead generally calling them ‘penalty areas’.
Under new article 17“there are no longer any special restrictions when a ball is in a ‘penalty area’.” In addition, the new rule states that “a player may, for any reason, touch or move loose impediments and touch the ground with the hand or bat (such as grounding the club immediately behind the ball), subject only to the prohibition of improving the conditions for the shot.”
Knowing this rule change, Clark opted to take a few practice swings in the water, which gave him crucial information about how his club would react during his real shot. And his clever use of the new rule paid off with a memorable birdie.
Unfortunately, Clark couldn’t turn that big moment into a drought-ending win. A double bogey on the par-4 13th put him out of the race, and he ultimately bowed out of the race settled for a T8 finishseven shots behind winner Hideki Matsuyama.
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