According to an announcement made Tuesday on the United States Golf Association’s website, 87 changes were made to the decisions on the rules of golf. Fifty-nine decisions were revised, 24 were withdrawn and three new decisions were entered into the rules of golf. Of this vast number, one in particular will impact golfers around the world, especially the ones who feel compelled to insert themselves into a televised event.

The rules of golf have undergone intense scrutiny since the televised era began. Rather, golfers who disobey or ignore the codified legal system of the sport’s organizing bodies have been taken to task, penalized and disqualified thanks to the intervention of overzealous viewers. From Dustin Johnson’s two-stroke penalty at the 2010 PGA Championship to Tiger Woods’ two 2013 brushes with the laws of golf, enthusiastic guardians of the game have made great effort to uphold the tenets and commandments of the game’s governors. Casual observers question why these supposed professionals are at times unfamiliar with the regulations of their chosen sport, and at others suspected of intentionally transgressing the very statutes that define the parameters of fair play.

Here’s how the decision reads on the USGA site:

New Decision 18/4 provides that, where enhanced technological evidence (e.g. HDTV, digital recording or online visual media, etc.) shows that a ball has left its position and come to rest in another location, the ball will not be deemed to have moved if that movement was not reasonably discernible to the naked eye at the time.

To be fair, golf is an impossible sport to police, especially at the professional level. Unlike any other competition in the world, medal play golf spreads its contestants across miles of competitive grounds, with upwards of 20 groups on course at a given moment. Since golfers do not directly influence the play of their opponents, they often perform basic tasks in complete oblivion…unless they go by the name Tiger Woods.

Tiger Woods, the most recognizable athlete in the world for more than 10 years, receives more camera time than any athlete in the game. As a result, his movements are scrutinized to the most minute detail. The two-stroke penalty assessed at the 2013 BMW Championship may have been the straw that broke the camel’s stout back. Nearly invisible to the naked eye, Woods was done in by the report of a viewing denizen, who doubtless DVR’d the moment, played it back at extra slow-motion, at which point the slight oscillation of the ball was revealed in all its egregious deceit.

In my estimation, this decision is long overdue. Ever since Craig Stadler was hosed back in 1987 at the San Diego Open for the infamous “towel incident,” viewers have felt it their duty to police the PGA Tour and other televised events. It was pure and simple cowardice on the part of all tournament officials to not tell those busy-bodies to find a better use of their time, like gardening or jury duty. No other sport allows fans to influence rulings; although golf doesn’t pretend to be an “other sport,” it should have been in these instances. The matter would have been put to rest 25 years prior to new decision 18/4.

No slight meant toward the other 86 decisions revelations. It is certainly important to know that grass between your ball and the soil does not mean the ball is not embedded (and entitled to free relief). Nor is it wrong to have an extra 50 yards to walk, to determine if a provisional may be hit. Actually, that one confuses me, but I’ll get back to it. As far as the using your smart phone to get atmospheric conditions during competition, well, that one is rife for compromise. Once you allow the smart phone out, you have to implicitly trust the golfer to not cheat. Oh, wait, that’s the foundation of the game. Never mind!

Regarding the provisional ball decision, I had always learned that if you suspected you needed to hit a provisional, then you hit it after marking the ball and declaring it a provisional. Heck, if your original ball goes 260 and your provisional goes 110, you can even keep hitting the provisional until you get to where the first ball should lay. If it’s found, all those provisional strokes don’t count.

My question, then, is why does anyone need to walk anywhere, to determine if a provisional is necessary? If you can’t see your ball sitting up and you suspect it might be lost, mark, declare and hit a provisional! If you find the original, play it. If you don’t, high-five your opponent and partners for avoiding the walk of shame back to the tee or previous lie.

While the digital media proviso will doubtless receive the most attention and applause from the pundits and aficionados, the other 86 decisions will have a greater effect on the golfing public.