US Am rules violation??

[AndrewM]

So Im watching my TIVO'ed US AM... Vegas just took relief from a sprinkler head... While taking relief, he picked the ball up, took it into his palm, put it in his pocket, Then threw it to his caddy to clean....

Am I incorrect in believing when taking unpenalized relief, that he is not allowed to lift and clean the ball... He MUST keep the ball in its original condition as he was not taking a penalty stroke and they were not under a lift, clean and place rule.

[Spectrums]

From my looking through the rules, they must have been playing the sprinkler heads as ground under repair... and with that I believe they can clean and drop.

[TheNextBen]

You can always clean your ball when you take an unpenalized relief. Why wouldn't you be allowed to?

[iacas]

You can always clean your ball when you take an unpenalized relief. Why wouldn't you be allowed to?

Ditto. Lift, clean, place or lift, clean, drop.

About the only time you can't clean is when, for example, your ball lies in the fairway a foot in front of my ball and I ask you to mark it and move it. There are others, of course, but in that case you're not so much getting relief as providing me relief.

[Zeos]

Ditto. Lift, clean, place or lift, clean, drop.

Ditto....

Rule 21: ... A ball on the putting green may be cleaned when lifted under rule 16-1b. Elsewhere, a ball may be cleaned when lifted except when it has been lifted: a) to determine if it is unfit for play (rule 5-3) b) for identification (rule 12-2) in which case it may be cleaned only to the extent necessary for identification c) because it was assisting or interfering with play (rule 22) .....