Rule debates are a hot topic around the MGS office.
And likely among your golfing friends, as well.
In my opinion, some of them should be changed and one of the most controversial ones should stay the same.
The PGA Tour didn’t address any of those for the 2026 season but there has still been a host of changes. Here are the six rules changes the Tour is making this season. The schedule gets underway this week at the Sony Open in Hawaii.
1. Extending embedded-ball relief
Don’t get too excited—we’re not talking about fairway divots here.
Players now receive embedded-ball relief when their ball finds any unrepaired pitch mark in an area cut to fairway height or less. Previously, players were only granted such relief if it was their own pitch mark.
This rule—which we saw come into play with Shane Lowry at the 2025 PGA Championship—has been very hard to enforce. A player would hit a drive and, if their ball was embedded into a pitch mark and it wasn’t always apparent who caused it, instead of trying to decipher that, everyone felt it was best to allow relief from any pitch mark.
The rule: In addition to when relief is allowed under Rule 16.3a, if a referee determines that it is known or virtually certain that part of a player’s ball is below the level of the ground in a pitch-mark in the general area that is cut to fairway height or less that has not been repaired in some way and was made as a result of any player’s stroke, the player may take free relief using the procedures in Rule 16.3b.
A pitch-mark has been repaired in some way when it has been pressed down or undergone any form of repair by anyone whether deliberate or incidental, and regardless of the quality or completeness of the repair.
Examples of repaired in some way include when a pitch-mark has been pressed down with a club or foot, anyone has attempted to repair it with a tee or some other device, or when the pitch-mark is in an area over which a mower has passed or has been otherwise prepared by maintenance staff. A pitch-mark that has been repaired in some way can and will often result in a visible indentation from which there is no relief under this Local Rule.
2. Less of a penalty for playing a ball that was unintentionally moved by an unaware player
This one is just common sense.
If it is determined that a player moved his ball but he didn’t know that he moved it, he will be penalized only one shot instead of two for not returning his ball to its original resting place.
This happened to (once again) Lowry at last year’s Open Championship where he unintentionally moved his ball a fraction of an inch and then played it without realizing what he had done.
Basically, if you know your ball moved and then play it from the wrong spot, that is now a more severe penalty compared to not knowing if your ball moved. It’s giving the benefit of the doubt to players, especially if they have cameras on them all the time.
Obviously, this involves the honor system—but the same could be said for all rules.
The rule: If a player causes their ball at rest to move and they fail to replace it before making their next stroke when they were neither aware that the ball had moved nor that it might have moved, the player gets one penalty stroke under Rule 9.4b (unless any of the exceptions under that Rule apply) but has not played from a wrong place if it subsequently becomes known that they caused the ball to move.
But when a player is aware their ball at rest might have moved and fails to replace it before making their next stroke, the player gets the general penalty for playing from a wrong place under Rule 14.7a if it subsequently becomes known that they caused the ball to move. The general penalty applies even if the ball was not replaced because the player incorrectly determined that it did not move or that they were not the cause.
3. Internal out of bounds is only off the tee
Some courses designate internal out of bounds for any number of reasons, e.g., another fairway could provide a strategic advantage while also causing a logistical issue.
This latest rule change says the internal O.B. only applies to tee shots. So if you hit your tee shot in bounds and then have to use the internal O.B. area on your ensuing shot, you now have that option.
What would happen is a player would get stuck behind a tree and want to chip out sideways—but internal O.B. would be taking away an option.
The Tour is saying that the internal O.B. is meant to stop the guy hitting tee shots down wrong fairways, which is not the way the course is meant to be played. The guy chipping out sideways isn’t looking to gain a strategic advantage in the same way.
The rule: During play of [specify hole number], the [specify location or side] of the hole, defined by [insert description of method of defining out of bounds, for example, white stakes], is out of bounds for any stroke that must be made from the teeing area.
These are boundary objects during the play of [specify hole number] for any stroke that must be made from the teeing area. At all other times, they are [immovable | movable] obstructions.
4. Extending immovable obstruction relief around putting greens
This is a minor detail but players are getting more relief around greens.
They’ve been receiving relief from sprinkler heads (when a sprinkler head is in a player’s putting or chipping line, assuming the sprinkler is within two club-lengths of the green and the player’s ball is within two club-lengths of the sprinkler). Now they get relief from things like microphone holes.
This would come into play when a microphone was in the player’s way. The microphone itself would get moved but would leave a hole, which the players couldn’t fix or get relief from.
The rule: When a ball lies anywhere other than on the putting green, an immovable obstruction on the player’s line of play is not, of itself, interference under Rule 16.1. Free relief is normally not allowed.
But if the aprons or fringes of putting greens are cut short enough that putting from off the green is likely to be a common choice of stroke, immovable obstructions that are close to the putting green may interfere with such strokes.
In that case, the Committee can choose to give an extra relief option under Rule 16.1 when a player’s ball lies in the general area and an immovable obstruction close to the putting green is on the player’s line of play.
5. Repairing a club mid-round with components from their bag
As long as a player doesn’t break or damage a club out of anger or abuse, he can repair or replace the club with components from his bag.
In the past, players with a damaged club had to send someone back to the equipment truck to get another shaft or a completely new club. This rule change allows players to have extra club heads so they could snap it right onto their shaft in the case of cracking a driver face, for example.
The rule: When replacing a club under this local rule:
—The replacement club must fill the gap created when the player took the broken or damaged club out of play to ensure the progression of the set is maintained.
—Rule 4.1b(4) is modified to allow a replacement club to be built from parts being carried by or for the player or any other player who is playing on the course. But the other restrictions of Rule 4.1b(4) continue to apply. For example, the player must not add or borrow any club being carried by or for any other player who is playing on the course.
6. Reduction in preferred lies relief
The relief area for preferred lies has been reduced from a club-length (about 46 inches) to scorecard-length (about 11 inches).
While this one does seem silly, it’s just about getting the Tour on the same page as other big tours and governing bodies who use the scorecard-length rule. That includes, well, everyone else except the PGA Tour.
The rule: A scorecard length is used universally by other organizations, and will provide fairer outcomes during competition as the ball will be placed from closer to its original spot.
The Tour philosophy when preferred lies is used does not change. It is used only in cases of extreme mud throughout the golf course, when relief from temporary water takes a player outside the fairway, or when poor fairway conditions are likely to negatively impact the competition.
If a ball is placed outside of the scorecard length by mistake, it can be corrected without penalty before the next stroke is made.
What do you think of these rule changes?
Admittedly, these are minor details that are being changed. All of them seem more player friendly and are fairly common sense.
Are there any other rule changes you would like to see on Tour? Let me know below in the comments.
Top Photo Caption: The Tour has made a host of rules tweaks for the 2026 season. (GETTY IMAGES/Matthew Maxey)
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