After going around social networks, the video of the ball stuck between the edge of the hole and the collar was transmitted to the USGA so that a referee can decide.
As we mentioned, we can read in the referee’s answer in English that the ball must be in contact with the flagstick left in the hole for the decision of paragraph c of rule 13.2 to apply:
When a player’s ball lies against the flagstick left in the hole:
If any part of the ball is in the hole below the surface of the putting green, the ball is considered holed even if the entire ball is not below the surface.
But here this is not the case. The ball is not directly against the flagstick. It got inserted between the edge of the hole and the flange. And the arbitrator cannot therefore rely on this point precisely to render his decision.
He explains that therefore to be considered in the hole the entire ball must be under the surface.
The images do not allow him to determine if this is indeed the case, he does not pronounce but his lighting therefore raises the doubt. Either the ball is entirely below the surface of the hole and it is a hole-in-one, or it is not and the player can take the ball out of its pitch, place it nearby and complete the hole.
