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Good morning, Elle!
Great day here, and mild .
Snow mostly gone, though there are several icy patches here and there.
All fine at optician and dentist.
Need a filling (with no anaesthetic!) and scrape and polish in a couple of weeks.
My dentist disapproves of me crunching Polo Mints.
Says they are well known in the dental trade for causing problems!
Rickie did well to hang on after his ill fortune at the 11th. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16Svz3nHOw0

Hi, Rusty!
Glad you are back home unscathed!
But what did the dentist say about the xerostomia?
Does he think the dryness has lessened?
What did the swab result show?
(So are you giving up polo mints?)
I have been watching the clip of Rickie's ball going into the water (er...twice!)
Now, tell me what would have happened to the score had Rickie gone back to replay the shot (as the commentator was suggesting he might choose to do)?
Still raining here!

Hello, Elle!
My dentist wants to see me in two weeks to see how things are.
He seems happy enough with things, and so am I.
I have less discomfort than a week ago.
Swab test is normal.
Yes, I had not had a Polo Mint in years and bought some and now regret it.
I do not really follow you (or the commentator) regarding Rickie?
He appeared to be penalised for the ball going in the water a second time, which to me seems unfair.
Gone back where? How could he replay a shot?
Do you mean hit the ball before it went in the water a second time?
That was the plan, but the ball had other ideas!

Hi, Rusty!
Ah, good that the swab test is normal!
Hopefully, then, there is no major problem, and given time, the mouth condition will right itself.
Now......Ricky!
The commentator made two references that made me think that Ricky could have replayed the water shot again from the beginning?
Of course, this may not be a possible option, and I may well have misunderstood?
But firstly, after the ball had run into the water the first time, , the commentator wondered why "he didn't even reconsider replaying the shot"....
And then later, after the second drop back into the water, and after Rickie's successfully hitting the ball back onto the green near the hole... the commentator said something along the lines of "Now it really made a difference that he didn't go back and play from the original position".
Both these remarks led me - probably erroneously? - to think that Rickie had the optional to replay the shot?
Maybe you can listen to the clip again...and explain the comments to me?
I probably got it all wrong........

Hello, Elle!
Now, firstly I am no expert on the Rules of Golf!
And to complicate matters the US PGA altered some of the rules recently, and I know one is about leaving the pin in the hole when playing towards it, but little else.
But, I do not know if Rickie had the option to have another shot to the green, rather than take a drop from the water hazard.
Sorry!
I am very dependent on the commentators keeping me right on things like that.
And I do not know why on earth he was penalised for his placed ball rolling into the water, although the rules official deemed it to be "in play" and I can understand and agree with that.
I'll maybe try and find out a bit more about it.
The Rules of Golf are not particularly well known to the players either.
There was a famous incident years ago involving Craig Stadler and a bush!
Craig had hit his ball under a bush and the only way he could play it was by going on his knees and swinging at it.
But the ground was a bit muddy so the bold Craig spread his towel on the ground to keep his trousers clean, and hit the ball up the fairway.
All fine....but no!
A televiewer phoned the course and said Craig should be penalised a stroke for "improving his stance", and he was!
Not sure if it cost him the tournament or not.

Update, Elle!
I was wrong!
Craig was disqualified!
Here he is re-enacting the shot for television.
https://www.golfdigest.com/story/the-man-who-took-the-call-that-dqd-craig-stadler-empowering-viewers-to-phone-in-rules-violations-for-next-30-years

Hi elle If you go into a water hazard, one of the options is always replaying your shot from the same place, with one shot penalty (i.e. if you hit your second shot in the water, your next go would be your fourth shot).
There are several other options for water, though, most of which would usually be more advantageous.

Good evening, Rusty!
Goodness, it is all very complicated, isn't it?!
Still, apparently Rickie took the best action......
Well done, him!
I am amazed that the other golfer, Craig, was disqualified for kneeling on a towel!
( Now on a point of legality......
Had he worn waterproof knee patches sewn on to his trousers, would that have been deemed all right?)
It is as well that televiewers were eventually disallowed from phoning in with their comments!
It is still raining here.....according to the forecast, it was supposed to stop at midday!


Thank you, Chris!
It is good to have that clarified.
I had wondered what the commentator meant.

You should watch the Kevin Costner film "Tin Cup"! I think it's a great film, and it's certainly the best golf film ever!
Spoiler - water involved....

Hello, Elle!
Well done, Rickie, indeed.
And he he accepted his misfortune with good grace, (and I would expect nothing less from Rickie) unlike a top European player who behaved like a spoilt brat at the weekend, damaging several greens through his ill temper.
In the US they are talking about discarding some of the new rules already!
Now, Craig's story is slightly more complicated.
When he played from the towel, nobody realised he should have called a penalty on himself.
Nobody knew this obscure rule!
So, Craig finished his round, signed his scorecard and gave it to the officials, as normal.
But, then came the phone call, and the PGA applied a two stroke penalty to Craig, for improving his stance, and because he had signed for an incorrect score, they disqualified him!
A similar thing happened to Lexie Thompson two years ago.
She was penalised twice for one offence.
Had Craig started out with waterproof knees it would have been fine, yes, in my opinion, but goodness knows what the PGA would make of it!
The rule book is quite thick!