Ariya Jutanugarn had the 2025 Chevron Championship in her pocket. All eyes were set on her as she hit an excellent second shot on the par-5 18th hole that hit the grandstand on the corporate chalets and sat just at the close to the edge. With three strokes left, Jutanugarn claimed TIO, or temporarily immovable object obstruction, and moved the ball ahead, closer to the green. Despite the 1 stroke lead against the field, she faltered on the downswing off the rough and hit the surface before striking the ball. That led to an additional stroke and a now nervous Jutanugarn. She couldn’t complete the round in the next two strokes to lose her lead and push the tournament to a five-way playoff.

The Thai golfer’s only issue was, every one of her opponents saw through her strategy. One of them was Mao Saigo, who eventually won the first major of the year. How did she do that? By imitating the approach of Ariya Jutanugarn and hitting the ball against the grandstand. She took the TIO relief as well and ended up in the same position on the rough as her rival from Thailand. The only difference was, Saigo didn’t miss her swing. While everyone else struggled to make par, the Japanese pro got an easy birdie to win her first major in her second year on the LPGA Tour.

However, everything that happened at The Woodlands raised a lot of questions. Experts and netizens alike started questioning the quality of the course. One of them was Golfweek Journalist, Beth Ann Nichols. She joined the Golf Today podcast with Damon Hack and Eamon Lynch. A segment of the same was shared by Golf Today on X with a caption, “Having a backstop just takes away from the skill of these players.” By backstop, they mean the grandstand that separates the course from the seating area of the fans.

Commenting on how the 2025 Chevron Championship ended, Nichols started by saying what the caption read. She continued, “When I look at what Ruoning (Yin) did, on the playoff hole, her approach shot was a thing of beauty. The three putt, we want to forget about. But, my goodness, that second shot!” After an excellent second shot that hit the green on the par 5 of the 18th hole in the playoffs, Yin failed to sink the ball in the two additional attempts she had before finishing on par.

Coming back to the backstop issue, the analyst said, “I think it does a disservice to the women to set it up this way. Of course, that’s what they are going to do. That’s what you’ve given them.” In a competitive atmosphere, the logical thing to do is hit the grandstands at the back and hope the ball drops close to them. Restricted movement allows the players to claim TIO relief and get the ball moved closer to the green. Speaking of what the course officials can do, Nichols suggested, “There is not a lot of room behind there to move it back. They have either got to make it smaller, build it higher, or move it. They’ve got to do something.” She strongly believes that the Jack Nicklaus Signature Course officials need to change the layout of the 18th hole green to ensure players don’t take undue advantage of the situation and gain an edge over their peers.

Speaking of Mao Saigo taking advantage of the situation, the Golfweek writer added, “I know this is a part of golf. I know this happens at other events.” Nichols is not wrong, as fans saw Beau Hossler abuse the TIO rule in the 2024 Sanderson Farms Championship as reported by NBC Sports. The tournament officials denied him the relief, and that was a part of the reason he lost to Kevin Yu in the playoffs. Coming back to Nichols, “But can you imagine turning on a men’s major and you see multiple players in the playoffs are coming down the stretch, banging off against the walls time after time. I’ve never seen that happen in a men’s major; it shouldn’t happen in a women’s major.” The reporter believes that LPGA Tour officials are a bit more merciful about such rules than the PGA Tour regulators.

While the 2025 Chevron Championship is done and dusted, these glaring issues do force everyone to look at the rule books. Interestingly, there have been a few other incidents recently where players have taken advantage of their knowledge of the rule.

Recent incidents of TIO rule abuse

2025 has been an outstanding season for Rory McIlroy. He overcame many obstacles to win three titles in 2025. One of the toughest battles he had was against the TIO rule in THE PLAYERS Championship 2025. Up against a mighty challenge from J.J. Spaun, McIlroy tried to gain the upper hand by outscoring his opponent. However, in one particular incident, it was Spaun who got the advantage thanks to the immovable object obstructing rule.

On the 9th hole, Spaun’s tee shot landed on a water sprinkler in the rough. This made it nearly impossible to hit it without damaging the club. The 34-year-old was granted a TIO relief and was allowed to drop his ball at a club’s distance. As Kyle Porter reported, “When he took relief, he purposely dropped it on another sprinkler head and ended up with relief from that one as well, giving him a perfect lie in the fairway. Sick.” Sick indeed, as J.J. Spaun ended up driving from the fairway despite hitting his ball into the rough. That didn’t give him the flagship title win, unlike Saigo’s win in the major, but it’s still an abuse of the rule, nonetheless. And Spaun did receive a lot of heat from the netizens who could see through his act.

Do you think the R&A and USGA need to modify the TIO rule to ensure such misuse doesn’t become a common theme in professional golf? Let us know in the comments section.