Is this legal?

Was playing with my brother and some mates at the weekend and (apart from all the other arguments) one of them did something I've never seen before which my brother insists is illegal (although his own interpretation of the point of crossing a hazard is, er, generous), the player doing it said he'd been told by the club pro it was OK and frankly I didn't have a clue.  So views and appropriate rules if possible please.

The player in question goes through the same pre-shot routine (not putting obviously and not in the long, wispy rough or hazards etc.), where he stands behind the ball and lines up the shot with the club pointing towards the target.  He then walks up to the ball and taps the ground about a foot in front of the ball on the target line to get a reference to the target.  He doesn't take a divot or anything, he either just rubs the heel to change the lay of the grass or taps it with the toe, either way he makes a barely visible mark which he then lines up on - indeed I didn't even notice him doing it for the first few holes until my brother started whining.  

This is a difficult one because when playing a short hole I always just scuff the turf up a fraction to put my ball on as I never use a tee on a short hole. So what he is doing is really nothing different.

Perhaps we are both acting illegally, I don't know. Perhaps the Lyth will have the correct answer to ths one.

Something I've done myself on tee boxes John, even seen pro's do that and don't think that's a problem (stand to corrected though).  But marking the turf a foot in front of the ball is, I believe a different kettle of fish.  He doesn't interfere with the lie or anything and in a way it's no different to me thumping my woods on the deck before I use them.  It's just that he chooses to do it in front of the ball... 

John I think in your case the ball isn't actually in play yet where as the other situation if I read correctly he is doing it on every shot leading up to the green. I'd be interested in hearing the result on this one.

Not sure that 8-2a covers it Colin - he's not really using a marker or making a mark for the line - it's more like an aid for aligning club, feet and shoulders.  In a way it's little different to picking a leaf or a piece of debris to indicate a line for set-up.  Is it any different, say, to lining up a shot by applying light pressure to the ground in the ball line?

That's why they were bickering.... 

Tim, I think the rule to which Colin refers does cover this. It could be construed as marking the line of intended shot which is not allowed. Call it lining up etc, its the same thing.

The easier way to do it is tee up a foot behind a divot on the tee and get your line that way, as its not a mark made by me, I believe this satisfies the rule.

David, I have been trying that with with my driver, lining up behind a divot, but when I then stand to the ball it lloks to me as though I am going to hit it way left, consequence being that I tend to counterbalance this line with an alteration during the swing, which results in the usual rubbish.

I have to say that I use a mark in front of my ball anything from a foot to about a yard to line up my shots, but it will be a clover or a leaf or maybe a slightly different coloured piece of grass not a mark I make myself, I believe Jack Nicklaus does the same thing but I am sure that you cant actually make a mark yourself to line up to even if a caddie helps players line up in the pro game he has to move away before the shot is taken, so I would say that it is not allowed.

Rule 8.2.a clearly applies to making a mark, however feint, for alignment and not removing it before the stroke is played.

See Decisions on the Rules of Golf - the same applies if the mark is to the side or behind the ball.

2 stroke penalty in medal or loss of hole in matchplay.

Lining-up on a divot mark, daisy or whatever that was already there is perfectly legal. 

You now need a calculator to add up his scores Tim,

I'll have to demonstrate what he does to Martin when I see him on Friday, because the way he does it is very subtle.

So is a ball down the trouser leg