Rules Guy: After hitting from a bunker, can you quickly rake it if your ball is about to roll back in?

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A player hits a bunker shot, which flies from the bunker but upon landing begins to roll back toward it. The quick-thinking player rakes his footprints and the adjacent sand. Sure enough, the ball returns to its original location. Does this rake job breach Rule 12.2b(3)? —KIM FROM KOREA, VIA E-MAIL

That depends on how quick the player — or his caddie — can move! Per the rule you correctly cite — props from Rules Guy — as long as the ball remains outside the bunker, the restrictions for a ball in the bunker don’t apply, so smooth away. But drop that rake like a hot potato before the ball is back in the bunker or it’s the general penalty of two strokes in stroke play and loss of hole in match play.

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