[Wazmankg]

Originally Posted by Fileygolfer

From watching The Open and seeing what a lot of players did, the R&A may have had a special Local Rule in place.
I saw a number of players address their ball on the green then walk away without marking it. So if the ball moved its a penalty
Would they take this risk?
I doubt it.
The R&A have a Rules Official with every Match at The Open so it would be easy to add a Local Rule "At any other time, except during the act of addressing the ball, if the ball is seen to be moved by the wind and not by the action of a player, no penalty will be incurred".

They didn't, though. I saw an official interviewed on the prospect of halting play. That was apparently the only option considered. Your suggestion would make way too much sense, Fileygolfer. I don't see how the spirit of the rule or the game would've been violated by doing as you suggest. It was plainly obvious to all that the wind was causing these problems. It's not as if there was the occasional gust and the cause of balls moving was in doubt. This was The Open. There were important and IMO overriding considerations behind the desire to get play in in the time frame alloted and the wind was certainly causing enough hardship without them having to worry about a penalty stroke every time they stepped up to a putt.