Last year I went to one of the PGA tour events, and I was confused on why after almost all of their tee shots they would pick their ball up off the fairway. I always thought you couldn't touch the ball untill you were on the green. I tried to look this up but can't find anything. Does anyone know why they do this? I'm just curious.
Horace... do you recall if the weather was wet leading up to the tournament, or during the tournament? For certain events, when mud may collect on the ball, the PGA implements the LCP rule... Lift, Clean and Place.
Was the weather particularly wet by any chance? I'm thinking that a local "lift, clean and place", rule may have been in effect for that particular tournament?
Apart from that, I always thought the same as you.....play it as it lies.
You know what, it may have been a little wet at the beginning. I bet this is what they were doing. Thanks for the replies, I was really confused about this.