Provisional ball picked up by the player later becomes the ball in play

Player plays a ball from the tee. However, as he assumes that the ball he has played could be lost, he plays a provisional ball. This ball comes to rest on the fairway. The players come to the place where the ball could presumably be lost and search for the original ball. Within three minutes, they find a ball. The player goes to his provisional ball and picks it up, then plays the found ball and supposedly original ball onto the green. When he marks his ball on the green, he realises that it is not his ball.

A referee is called in. The referee clarifies the exact situation with the players.

The referee's decision was:

The player still had 30 seconds to look for his original ball. The player was allowed to do so, but unfortunately the ball was not found.

How to proceed now:

The referee went with the player to the spot where he picked up his provisional ball. As this ball had become a ball in play with a penalty of stroke and loss of distance, the player must put the ball back and incurs a penalty stroke under Rule 9.4b. The player also incurs two penalty strokes for playing the wrong ball. Therefore, in this case, the next stroke was his seventh stroke.

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