On May 5th 1975, Fred McLeod, winner of the 1908 US Open, died at the ripe old age of 94. Born in North Berwick in 1882, he emigrated to the US in 1903 and went on to win the Western Professional tournament of 1905 and 1907. His greatest triumph came a year later when a closing 77 at Myopia Hunt Club equalled the best round of the championship. He later recalled: "Before teeing off, I filed the face of my driver to lay it back a little. It was one of only eight clubs in my bag."

Teaser: A player, unaware that his ball was in ground under repair, played the ball as it lay. The player then learned that the ball had been in ground under repair, picked up the ball played from the ground under repair, dropped it in accordance with Rule 25-1b and played out the hole. What is the ruling?

Answer: When the player played from the ground under repair, which is permissible, relief under Rule 25-1b was no longer available and the ball was in play where it lay. When the player picked up his ball in play, he incurred a penalty stroke (Rule 18-2a). Since he did not replace the ball, he incurred a penalty of loss of hole in matchplay or a total penalty of two strokes in strokeplay.