[Bulls9999]

No, I meant if the player (say Phil, using his example), noticed that the ball is probably well deep in the brush and he decided that since his provisional ball is currently in the fairway, that he will play that....and that he should be able to 'call off the search' to prevent someone else who would want to try to find the ball and require him to hit another shot into the fairway and possibly screw up, and prevent that person from looking for the ball....whether or not to continue to search for it should be the decision of the player involved, imo.

Originally Posted by atticusfinch

If what you mean is the search will be negated if the player "calls it off" it will not work to do what you want. SImply put, if the original is found within five minutes of beginning the search, the original ball is in play. Nothing the player does can change that (unless he plays the provisional from a point beyond where the original is likely to be...that act takes makes provisional the ball in play.)