Can a player declare a ball lost in golf?

Can a player declare a ball lost in golf under Rules of Golf by R&A and USGA, no you cannot declare a ball lost, ball is only lost when not found within 3 minutes search time. Under Rule 18.2, old rule allowed player to declare ball lost, but since 2019 rules change, you cannot declare ball lost, you must search for 3 minutes, and if not found within 3 minutes, it is lost. You can decide not to search and take stroke and distance penalty, but you cannot declare ball lost to prevent opponent or fellow player from finding it. For example, if you hit ball into bush and think it is lost, you cannot say I declare it lost, you must allow search for 3 minutes, and if someone finds it within 3 minutes, it is not lost and you must play it or take unplayable. However, you can take stroke and distance relief at any time, meaning you can go back and play from previous spot with 1 stroke penalty without searching, but your original ball is still in play until 3 minutes expire and if found in meantime, you can choose to play found ball. So you cannot declare ball lost to stop search, but you can choose to not search and play another ball under stroke and distance, though original ball if found quickly can still be played. This change was to prevent players declaring lost to avoid finding ball in bad spot.