Events in a play-off for the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines, La Jolla last Sunday, highlighted a remarkable ignorance of the rules of golf, on both sides of the television cameras. Neither Phil Mickelson, the eventual winner, nor Bobby Clampett, the CBS analyst, were familiar with the status of an abandoned ball.

As it happened, a double-bogey six was sufficient to give Mickelson victory in suddendeath over the hapless Frank Lickliter, who three-putted the third play-off hole. And the statisticians will be working overtime to establish if such a situation has previously occurred on the American tour.

The inevitable drama associated with a play-off, was heightened sharply when left-hander Mickelson pushed his drive into scrubland on the left, at the parfour 17th. Lickliter then pulled his drive to follow Mickelson into the same area. Both players proceeded to hit the fairway with provisional balls.

Lickliter's original ball was immediately apparent in the scrub but Mickelson's wasn't. Meanwhile, since there was no area within the scrub to drop an unplayable ball, a rules official indicated that Lickliter would have to return to the tee. So, realising that his position would not be improved by finding his original ball, Mickelson declared it abandoned which, in a rules context, is meaningless.

Mickelson's hopes of being able to play his provisional ball were dashed, however, when a well-meaning fan found the original within five minutes. This prompted the player to mutter: "Didn't I tell them not to go down there." The upshot was that both players went back to the tee from where they played their third shots. This was when Clampett offered the pearl that once a player abandoned his ball "that was it."

As it happened, Mickelson was horrified to see his ball heading for trouble again, off his third drive at the hole. "Oh no! Spit it out." he shouted. A kindly tree did just that, but the player still had a difficult lie. However, he managed to hit a fine approach to 25 feet and two-putted for victory, so becoming the first player to successfully defend a title at Torrey Pines since J C Snead in 1976.

It had started as a three-man play-off but Davis Love, winner of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am the previous week, was eliminated at the second tie hole - a par-three - where he was plugged in a bunker.

So, what was the rules situation? Firstly, there is no such procedure as declaring a ball to be abandoned. A player can decline to look for his/her ball but it remains the ball in play if it is found by someone else within the stipulated time.

Mickelson clearly wanted to play his provisional ball, nicely placed in the fairway. And under Rule 27-2b, he could have brought it into play by striking it before his original ball was found, provided it was in a place beyond where his original ball was likely to be. Which was clearly true in this instance. And if he were in any doubt as to his distance from the hole, he could continue to play it.

But surely he would have been playing out of turn, by going directly to his provisional ball while Lickliter was heading back to the tee? Indeed he would, but there is nothing to stop a competitor playing out of turn in strokeplay. It is only in matchplay that the shot can be recalled.

Mickelson's 18th career victory was worth $630,000. It was also his fifth victory in the last 12 months, a success-rate which has been bettered by only Tiger Woods.

Three-putts meant bitter disappointment for Lickliter who was attempting to gain his first win in 158 starts on the USPGA Tour. "It's tough to swallow," he said, his voice cracking. Still, prize money of $308,000 would have helped ease the blow.