Line-of-play question re: Winthrop #5

I've been looking at a lot of USDGC footage recently.

Hole #5 for those who don't know is a 1000' long hole, essentially shaped like a seven.

My question is this. In a situation where a player is well up the fairway and facing a choice between going straight (avoiding the water hazard to play "around the corner") or going to the left, across the water to the pin (and "cutting the corner") what is the correct point of reference for proper foot placement behind the disc or mini?

A player going "straight" typically plants (or rarely, stands) as if the basket were straight ahead (which it isn't, its off across the water on the left). This is OK, I assume?

Anyone shed some light on this?

Joe

[Steve Kenton]

Line of Play: The imaginary line on the playing surface extending from the center of the target through the center of the marker disc and beyond. This line has no thickness; therefore one support point must be directly behind the center of the marker.

However, in cases where mandatories are used, the mandatory object is used in place of the target for the purpose of establishing the line of play.

In the case of Winthrop Gold #5, there is no mandatory, so the basket will always be the point used for the LOP. Therefore the correct placement of the foot would be the same no matter which route you take to the green.