Golf is a game of rules both obvious and arcane, and if you're going to play the game, you have to play by its rules. No matter what the cost.

Today, a classic "what would you do?" moment. Zach Nash is a 14-year-old Wisconsin kid  who happens to be a fine golfer. So good, in fact, that he won a junior Wisconsin PGA tournament.

Problem was, he won it by violating -- albeit unintentionally -- one of golf's most straightforward rules. He had too many clubs in his bag. And the worst part? It was a total accident, discovered long after the fact.

Specifics: Nash's 77 won the boys' 13-14 division at the Milwaykee County Parks Tour Invitational, knocking off 31 other players. Afterward, Nash went to celebrate with one of his mentors, Chris Wood, head club pro at Rivermoor Golf Club. And that's where the troubles began.

Wood noticed an extra club in Nash's bag and pointed it out to him. Apparently, a friend of Nash's had left the club at his house, and Nash put it in his bag, not realizing it put him one over the mandatory limit of 14 clubs. Carrying an extra club is a two-stroke penalty per hole, but since Nash didn't account for those extra strokes, he signed what was, in effect, an incorrect scorecard, and thus would be disqualified from the tournament.

And from there, there really wasn't any choice. Nash called the Wisconsin PGA, explained what had happened, and sent back the medal from the tournament. WPGA officials plan to present it to the tournament's runner-up.  

Now, it's easy to go and tee off -- pun very much intended -- on golf's drop-the-hammer rules, on Wood for bringing the extra club to Nash's attention, or to Nash himself for failing to count the club. But all that misses the point. This is a story about honesty and doing what's right, even when what's right makes zero logical sense. Sure, Nash could have rationalized away keeping an extra club, but where's the honor in that?

Congrats to Nash for standing up and doing the right thing, no matter what the cost. And hopefully there are much bigger medals waiting for him down the line. 

NORTON Mass. (AP) Phil Mickelson isn't the only player capable of going to No. 1 in the world this week.

According to early projections from the Official World Golf Ranking Steve Stricker can become No. 1 for the first time in his career if he were to win the Deutsche Bank Championship Tiger Woods finished out of the top nine and Mickelson was out of top three. Stricker is the defending champion at the TPC Boston.

Mickelson will try for the 10th time this year to topple Woods in...

We're deep into the FedEx playoffs now, and frankly, it's anyone's game. We run down a few of the top competitors and consider some scenarios. Is the playoff structure worthless because people can just skip an event and pass right on through to the second round without penalty? Maybe yes, maybe no. And in other news, we consider whether Michelle Wie's recent victory is the best thing that's happened to the LPGA this year -- and going forward. Enjoy. 

As always, I'm joined by Shane Bacon, writer here and at Dogs That Chase Cars. (Follow Shane on Twitter right here, and while you're there, follow me too.)

We welcome your thoughts, ideas and recommendations on the podcast. Hit me up at jay.busbee@yahoo.com. And if you've got a question or comment for us to kick around, call our Skype line at 678-389-9173 and leave your message. Click the little arrow below to play the podcast or right-click it to download, and hit the iTunes site linked below to subscribe. Have at it!

Devil Ball Golfcast, Episode 49 -- Wake up, it's time to play golf

NORTON Mass. (AP) When all was right in the world of Tiger Woods players wanted to be on the same side of the draw because they figured the world's No. 1 player was getting all the breaks.

That might not be the case at the Deutsche Bank Championship.

Woods is among the late starters when the second round of the PGA Tour playoffs gets under way Friday at the TPC Boston. That's about the time the forecast is for the outer bands of Hurricane Earl to arrive.

Tour officials...