stewart cink at zurich classic, why did he get DQed?

S. Cink hit his ball near a bunker on the 15th hole. In order to play his shot he needed to stand in the bunker. He hit his ball toward the green but this time it landed inside a bunker near the green. His caddy then proceeded to rake the bunker that he was just standing in to smooth out his foot marks. He then proceeded to the next bunker his ball was in, hit his shot and finished the hole.

The USGA determined that he breached Rule 13-4a in the USGA Golf Rules; "a player shall not test the condition of a similar hazard". By his caddy raking the bunker (which Cink's ball was never actually in) there's a possibility he could have obtained an unfair advantage by being able to determine the firmness, density, depth etc. of the sand in the hazards. A player who breaches this rule is assessed a '2 stroke penalty' to their score. Since Cink didn't know of this rule and signed his scorecard at the end of the round, he was disqualified for "signing an invalid scorecard' for himself. The rule wasn't realized by Cink or the USGA until after the round, by that time the scorecard had already been signed.

The USGA has decided in the past year to discuss changing this rule however it won't be discussed until 2010. This is a lose-lose situation for the players though... because the PGA will fine a golfer if they don't rake a bunker which they altered from either 'stance' or 'swing'. If they rake it after playing the next shot they now face a delay issue by having to backtrack on the hole to rake the bunker, this slows down play. Lastly, the group hitting up behind them on the same hole could land their ball in Cink's footprints in the bunker if it was unraked. Weird rule that will probably be altered, unfortunately Cink had to succomb to it in New Orleans.

He was having a conversation with 2007 Masters champion Zach Johnson in the locker room about stupid and little known rules in golf. Zach brought up this rule about playing a ball not in a bunker, but standing in a bunker and then hitting that ball having it end up in a different bunker on the same hole. He told Stewart that if you rake the bunker you were just in before hitting the next shot in the other bumker, it's a two stroke penalty. It has to do with the "testing of a similar surface. Stewart told Zach that he just did that the day before and his caddy raked the trap before the next shot. Stewart then sought out a rules official to ask about this and sure enough it was a two shot penalty, but he had already signed and turned in his scorecard from that round with the incorrect score on that hole. Thus, he was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard. Stewart Cink said that he would gladly be the "poster boy" to have that rule possibly changed or modified in the future.

A lot of other players had heard about it and said that most all of them do it every week not knowing. I guarantee you that Sandy Lyle did it on 18 at Augusta National when he won the Masters in 1988. He hit from a fairway bumker into a greenside bunker and then got up and down for par and the win.

He hit a ball out of a bunker into another bunker. Then, before he played that ball, his caddy raked the previous bunker. Due to a little known rule, that wasn't allowed. He didn't know it and not taking the penalty, therefore signed an incorrect scorecard.

Tonsil and JNews got it right.

The really funny part is, if his ball was actually in the first bunker, he would not have received a penalty.

Rule 13-4, excpetions:

3. If the player makes a stroke from a hazard and the ball comes to rest in another hazard, Rule 13-4a does not apply to any subsequent actions taken in the hazard from which the stroke was made.

He signed an incorrect scorecard after the third round....

Because I picked him for my fantasy team :(