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It's better to put own ID on golf ball
Is it mandatory for a player to put a personal identifying ball on his golf ball? No! Rule 12-2 only says that each player should do so, but does not go as far as to say that he or she must do it.
However, it's highly recommended and all the PGA Tour player seem to do it so as to avoid any possible confusion about whether the balls in question are theirs. .The rule does say that it is the player's responsibility to do that.
While there are different numbers and all kinds of balls in play, putting your own ID mark can definitely come in handy as we see in the following examples.
Let's say that you hit a ball toward the OB, but are not sure if it actually went out of play. So you hit another ball and it does in the same general direction. You get down to where the balls are and there are two Titleist NXT Tour balls with the same number on them—one is in play and the other is OB. According to a decision by the USGA, the player has to assume that it was the first ball that was OB and he is lying three.
The same thing would apply if two different players happened to play the same brand of ball with the same number and they could not decide which one was the correct ball. Both would have to return to the tee, hitting three. An ID mark on either ball would have solved this problem.
A player is entitled to lift his ball without penalty to identify it anywhere through the green, but not in a hazard.
Before lifting the ball, the player must announce his intentions to his opponent in match play or his marker or fellow competitor in stroke play and mark the position of the ball. He may then lift the ball and identify it provided that he gives the others a chance to observe what he is doing in replacing the ball. The ball may not be cleaned beyond the extent necessary for identification.
Failure to follow this procedure of if he lifts the ball for identification in a hazard, he incurs a penalty of one stroke,
If the lifted ball is the player's and he fails to replace it, he incurs the general penalty for the breach of 12-2 and this is two strokes.in stroke play or loss of hole in match play.
Since the player is not able to identify his ball in a hazard, there also is no penalty if he happened to play the wrong ball.
Can you ever lift a ball in a bunker? Yes, if one of the balls happens to be so close as to interfere with another player, a player may lift the ball and put it back in the same position after the other player has raked that area.