Today In U.S. Open Rules: Mahan & Donaldson Play Wrong Ball

Ryan Lavner reports that Hunter Mahan's caddie is accepting the blame for incorrectly identifying his man's ball and setting the bag down next to it. Mahan and Jamie Donaldson each played the wrong ball and were penalized two strokes.

Both players use a Titleist and put a slash through the number.

John Wood, the caddie for Hunter Mahan, was the first to arrive at the golf balls. Back on the tee, it had looked like Mahan’s tee shot kicked right and was thus in the left-center and that Donaldson’s ball had hugged the left edge.

Wood walked to the balls first, calculated the yardage and gave the number to Mahan, who played his second shot without concern. Donaldson and Francesco Molinari, the third member of the group, then played theirs.

It wasn’t until Donaldson went to mark his ball on the green that he discovered the mistake.

Missy Jones does a nice job explaining how 15-3 works in stroke play and that it could have been disqualification had he failed to declare his intention to correct his mistake before leaving the green.

The video: