Top 10: Lowdown on sport's peculiar little quirks

This week Texan Dustin Johnson cost himself a place in the US PGA Championship playoff with a calamitous decision to rest his club on the ground before playing his second shot from off to the side of the 18th fairway.

The ball was sitting in an area designated as a bunker, therefore Johnson broke the rule.

Golf is a stickler sport when it comes to the do's and don'ts. While technically Johnson's infringement was more a case of thoughtless breaking of a regulation, rather than a breach of the spirit of the sport, golf has its share of little quirks which are the "done thing". And it's not alone in that.

ONE: Boxers tapping gloves before the final round
Etiquette in the boxing ring? Well yes. At the start of a fight, as the referee is giving the boxers their instructions, they bop gloves before heading to their corners. Then, having done their best to knock the other bloke's head off for the next half hour or so, they emerge at the bell for the last round and stretch out to touch leather again. It's a quaint and bizarre custom given what they've been doing to each other over the previous rounds, but the done thing all the same.

TWO: Snooker players touching the white
Snooker, the gentleman's game. But you're unlikely to be called that if you are caught touching the tip of your cue against the white before drawing it back and completing the shot. Ditto, if they play a shot without at least one foot on the ground, or cough as their opponent is about to pot.

THREE: Recovery time
Soccer has an old convention which occasionally gets abused these days. A player falls to the ground injured, so the opposition, if in possession at the time, generously kick the ball out to set up a break in play so the wounded can be treated. However, teams have started taking liberties if they suspect the injury is a fake, or if they have a genuine goal-scoring opportunity, say late in the game if they are trailing. Scrub the etiquette, some of the big managerial names have said. But what if there's a serious injury. One team is then handicapped, and potentially with their goal under threat. Is that fair or just bad luck?

FOUR: A fair catch
There's a belief that batsmen not walking after they have edged a catch to the wicketkeeper is a relatively recent development. Nonsense. Acknowledging when a catch hasn't carried, most notably into the slips, is a different story. Players will claim it's often hard to tell the moment the ball lands in the hands when they're brushing the ground. TV replays can be misleading. It relies on honesty, and universal honesty in this matter is not what it was.

FIVE: New balls, please
At the start of every eighth game in a professional tennis match you'll see the server hold up his hand to his opponent. He's not waving a cheery: "Everything all right down there, mate?" The player is signalling he's about to launch a fresh set of balls his opponents' way. New balls travel faster than those that have been banged about and had the fluff bashed off them over the preceding seven games.

SIX: Sorry, mate (but not really)
When you hit a tennis shot which rams against the top of the net and bounces over, leaving the opponent stranded and seriously short of good humour. The player who has enjoyed the moment of good fortune raises his racquet in an apologetic manner. It happens to all players, both having the rub of the net cord and being on the wrong end of the moment. Under their breath, of course, the deliverer of the fluke winning shot is really thinking: "Take that, pal."

SEVEN: Watch where you're walking
You're on the green, and preparing to line up your putt when one of your playing colleagues walks between your ball and the hole. This is totally out of order. Watch the pros. They'll carefully walk behind the line from ball to hole, even if it means a few more metres to get to their ball. An absolute no-no. But if you really want to anger those playing behind you ...

EIGHT: Nothing but a rake
Forget to rake the bunker after escaping in a flurry of flying sand. Failure to apply the rake infuriates those behind who are hopeless enough to have sent their ball into the same bunker from which you've just emerged. Especially if their ball has just nestled in the depression made by your club a couple of minutes earlier.

NINE: Whip it
The next time you're at the races, or watching on TV, check out the winning jockey after he comes off the course and canters through the crowds to the dismounting area. As he passes the main stand, he'll quickly raise his whip. He's not whiffing at a passing fly, but saluting the judge. One of racing's age-old traditions is thus maintained. Sometimes it's a generous full-on wave, at others it's a discreet little gesture, but you can bet the intended target is watching. Lord help a jockey who forgets to do this bit of business.

TEN: Rugby's great cover-up
Remember the old days when a rugby player tore his shorts. A replacement pair would be summoned and his team mates would duly form a careful huddle around their chum to protect his dignity as he dropped one pair and pulled on the Persil-white replacement. Now, in far more liberal times, players drop their shorts without all the fanfare or wolf whistles of old. Indeed, All Black Jerry Collins, even took an indiscreet pee out in the middle before the opening whistle in a test.