PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- While playing the 10th hole during the fourth round of THE PLAYERS Championship on Sunday, Stephen Ames played his third stroke from a greenside bunker and the ball did not get out of the bunker. While the ball was still in the bunker he smoothed the footprints from where he played his first stroke from the bunker. The area that he smoothed did not improve his lie or assist him during his subsequent play of the hole.

Ames was not penalized because Exception 2 to Rule 13-4 states: "The player after playing the stroke, or his caddie at any time without the authority of the player, may smooth sand or soil in the hazard, provided that, if the ball is still in the hazard, nothing is done which improves the lie of the ball or assists the player in his subsequent play of the hole."