I noticed Ian was lining up his par putt and then saw him brush the ground in front of his ball sideways multiple times like there was sand or something in front of it. He would have clearly been able to tell which way the grain was with what he did. Did he violate a rule? I'm not sure which rule it would be (my rule book is in my bag which is not with me), but I would think he did. I'm pretty sure you cannot test the grain like that (even if he didn't do it intentionally).

You're more than entitled to clean the green with your hand or a hat or towel. You'd have to have pretty conclusive evidence that he was NOT cleaning the green to even think that he was breaking the rules.

Even then, there's no rule that says you can't test the conditions on the green - you just can't modify the surface (except for ballmarks).

If he was moving a loose impediment then he's fine. You can pretty much use anything now; including towels, hats, etc.

Unless his motive was to check the grain, he can't be penalized.

Very good. Thanks guys...just checking.