marking ball off green

Question
If you are asked to mark your ball off the green, I know you cannot clean the ball.  If your ball has a chunk of mud on it, when you replace it, can you rotate the ball so the mud will not come in contact with the club?

Answer
Hello and thank you for asking.  I do not know of any written rule about that point, and it is a good one.  However, as in anything in golf, the top priority is to play with integrity and fairness, whether it is written or not.  Your job isn't to find every advantage you can in order to give yourself a better shot.  That is why I disagree with the drop rule of players being able to stare down a spot and try to drop it there.  They should drop it behind their back.

Anyways, to the topic at hand... so if you were playing with ultimate integrity, you already know the answer don't you?  Now if you are truly negligent and you did not notice the mud, if it were a smaller piece, then that is ok... but if you DELIBERATELY place the ball so the mud becomes less of a factor, then in fact, you have cheated, whether it is legally cheating or not.  However, I guess in a tournament if winning at all costs is so important, no one can add strokes to your score for not placing the mud in the exact same spot so... that is your call.

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