Remember the situation at TPC Sawgrass in 1998 at the 17th island green where a seagull picked up Steve Lowery's ball off the 17th green and flew off with it (only to drop it in the water)?
Well guess what. A similar situation happened to one of PCGC members.
At our 2010 TOC at Eagle Vines, Brian Ungaretti hit his tee shot in the fairway. Then out of the woods came a coyote who moved Brian's ball at least 30 yards before dropping it and moving on.
What's the ruling?
The ruling is the player can place his ball back to the original spot without penalty.
And yes, Brian's fellow players in his foursome tried to assess him a five-stroke penalty. They were kidding of course. They were down in their match.
Since the seagull dropped Steve Lowery's ball in the water, Lowery could not use his original ball to place on the green. So he was allowed to use a different ball to take his relief. However, don't forget that the PGA Tour has a "one ball rule" where the player must play one brand of a ball during the round. Lowery did.