PGA Championship 2026: Jon Rahm was right to use the Rules to his advantage. But is this rule too generous?

Of course, when the break you get from the Rules of Golf is so generous, the question arises: Was that really too good to be true? Should you actually be allowed to improve your lie that much.

The question is even more reasonable when you consider that four groups before Rahm got his lucky break, Rickie Fowler was almost literally in the same spot as Rahm off the 10th hole. He called in a rules official to talk to him, but it was deemed that his ball wasn’t close enough to the sprinkler head where it would interfere with his swing or stance.

Last year I talked with Jay Roberts in the rules department at the USGA and this topic came up. Roberts explained the thinking behind the rule and why the USGA and R&A are OK with the way some players can get an incredible benefit when the rules is applied.

The logic, says Roberts, is that there are five defined areas of a golf course and the rough and the fairway are both part of the same area—the general area. In other words, the rules don’t distinguish between rough and fairway. So you’re not technically improving your lie, which is a very specific terminology in the Rules of Golf.

Roberts says that improving your lie according to the Rules means “that your ball is lying on a spot, that spot is your lie and you’re not allowed to make any alterations to that lie while that ball is in place. But when you’re taking relief, you’re not changing your lie. That’s the big difference there. We’re not doing any of that.”

Roberts says that when the USGA promoted a social media post about how you can legally drop from the rough to the fairway and shouldn’t feel guilty about it, that the USGA got comments from people saying they couldn’t in good conscience take that drop. “I’m not going to do that, I don’t think it’s in the spirit of the rules. They think they’re violating some spirit of the rules here. But as I’ve illustrated in the video, I’ve literally cited the exact example in the rules of this being completely allowed. It gives the example of literally what I’m doing in the video.”

The craziest part of the Rahm situation? Even with the ball now in the fairway, he missed the green to the right with his second shot and wound up with a bogey.

MORE GOLF DIGEST PGA CHAMPIONSHIP COVERAGE

PGA Championship 101: Answering all your frequently asked questions

How to watch the 2026 PGA Championship

Power Rankings: Every player in the PGA field, ranked

Tee times for the first and second rounds

Why the PGA at Aronimink is a great fit for Philly’s everyman sports culture

What tour pros do before a major to prep

Video: Every hole at Aronimink

Bryson’s uncertain future

The crazy story of Walter Hagen and the lost Wanamaker Trophy

The most ‘PGA’ moments in PGA Championship history