PGA Golf Officials blow the call big time

[NeedMoreFans]

I'm starting to get annoyed with all the Whistling Straits bashing that is going on right now. I've heard a few people (reporters, players) suggest that they need to get rid of some of the sand on the course, and a couple have even gone so far as to question whether the course is worthy of another major. This course is a perfect major course...it's long and highly rewards accuracy and punishes you when you are not in the fairway.

 

That being said, the official/marshals should have cleared the spectators a bit more, and probably should have cleared them out of the bunker as well. I also wonder why he didn't play a safer first shot. He didn't need birdie...just par. I'm not suggesting that he should have taken a 3 wood off the tee and laid up on his second, but he didn't need to hit 350 off the tee.

[RU Rah Rah]

I'd say it was about 70% Johnson's fault. He should have hit a safer drive, and he should have realized that sand = bunker. (His caddy screwed up, too.)

 

But I don't think the PGA is totally blameless here. If it really was a bunker, then at least the crowd should have been removed from it when Johnson approached his ball and played it. Had that happened, I think he might have realized that it was a bunker and not just a trampled-down spot in the gallery. (The positioning of the crowd clearly suggested to him that it wasn't a bunker.)

 

Having played WS twice, I can say that you do periodically confront some grey areas -- weird sandy patches that aren't exactly bunkers and aren't exactly rough. I don't know if those qualify as "bunkers" or not. And WS doesn't really know, either -- they can't give a precise count of the total number of bunkers on the course because they change over time.

[RockCoCougars]

I'm just glad that Tiger didn't sniff contention again. Even despite that, the talking heads have a controversy to beat into the ground for the next week, so I guess everyone's happy.

[jhart05]

The entire situation was botched.

 

#1 The PGA Should have done a better job of clearing the fans away.

- Official could have and should have told him he was in a bunker.

- Johnson and caddy could have and should have asked if the were in a bunker.

 

That should not have been declaired a bunker thou. There was grass and actual garbage within a foot or so of the ball.

 

It was handled very, very poorly by the PGA. It was the last hole, they should have had all their field marshals over there helping clear people away, so it could be determined if it was in fact a bunker.

[homer]

Its clearly posted on the rules sheet that every thing with sand was a bunker. He should have asked the rules official if it was a bunker. It's not the rules official's job to point stuff out to the player, it's the player's job to ask if there's an issue. I do agree that they probably could have done a better job clearing people out of the way. But again, Johnson could have requested that.

[jhart05]

Yes it is part of the rules official's job to tell him he was in a bunker. The head of the PGA even said the official could have/should have told him.

 

The golfer and his caddy in that situation have enough to worry about. Crowd control should not have to be one of them.

 

The PGA botched it big time.

 

A poor ending to what was otherwise a fantastic championship.

[rluzinski]

I can't take golf (the PGA) seriously because they insist everyone wears pants in 105 degree heat.

Yeah, you should stick to baseball..

http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/multimedia/photo_gallery/0908/mlb.remember.when.baseball.uniforms/images/bucky-dent-white-sox-shorts.jpg

 

 

[Patrick425]

dadofandrew[/b]]I can't take golf (the PGA) seriously because they insist everyone wears pants in 105 degree heat. The sport's popularity has gone down a lot in the past few years, some argue Tiger made it cool for a bit of a false peak, others argue it is because of its "rich man's game" reputation.

 

I do not even know what grounding your club is, but such ticky tack stuff is not going to make the game appeal to regular Joes, to be certain. The fact they get so excited over enforcing such crap is rather headshaking.

 

I remember years ago, some golfer climbed into the woods, and his club hit a piece of grass or stick which touched the ball, and he came out and told everyone and it counted as a stroke. This was called great sportsmanship, but I thought it was just stupid. Lighten up.

So, where do you draw the line? As other people have stated rules are rules, you don't enforce them sometimes and not others. The rule is in place so that golfers don't try to improve their lie. Are you going to try to make judgement calls about what the intention of the golfer was when he took a certain action?

 

I get the feeling that most the people who are upset about this are either very casual golfers or have never played the game at all, certainly not at any competitive level. To me, it seems like even if this was a clear green side "non-trampled" bunker and he committed the same infraction of the rules, there would still be people upset that he got called on it.

 

I don't get why everyone is up in arms about. I was there yesterday in the bleachers on the 18th hole. The odd part about it was that everyone who had the XM radio ear buds that they were handing out (about 80% of the crowd) knew about the possible infraction before Dustin Johnson did. I was also at the Milwaukee All-Star game. I have the same feeling today as I did after that game. Why are people so upset? An exhibition game that ended in a tie...big deal. A golfer committed a rules infraction (a rule that was apparently clearly posted and pointed out to all the golfers before the event began) and got called on it. What's the argument?

 

I'm more upset at the stupid shot Bubba Watson tried to make on the 18th hole in the playoffs. Just call him "Tin Cup"

 

[sbrylski]

The Dude: Walter, ya know, it's Dustin, so his club touched the sand in the disguised bunker, big deal. It's just a game, man.

Walter Sobchak: Dude, this is a major championship, this hole determines who enters the playoff. Am I wrong? Am I wrong?

Dustin Johnson: Yeah, but its not a bunker. Gimme the marker Dude, I'm marking it five.

Walter Sobchak: [pulls out a gun] Dustin, my friend, you are entering a world of pain.

The Dude: Walter...

Walter Sobchak: You mark that hole a five, and you're entering a world of pain.

Dustin Johnson: I'm not...

Walter Sobchak: A world of pain.

Dustin Johnson: Dude, he's your partner...

Walter Sobchak: [shouting] Has the whole world gone crazy? Am I the only one around here who gives a about the rules? Mark it seven!

The Dude: They're calling the cops, put the piece away.

Walter Sobchak: Mark it seven!

[points gun in Dustin Johnson's face]

The Dude: Walter...

Walter Sobchak: [shouting] You think I'm kidding around here? Mark it seven!

Dustin Johnson: All right, it's a seven. Are you happy, you crazy ?

Walter Sobchak: ...It's a major championship, Dustin.

 

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_2r6lrKXAJvQ/SD1l8FBrKjI/AAAAAAAAAY4/X9hGgDjeN0o/s400/walter_sobchak.jpg

 

 

 

But seriously, they made the right call. I'm guessing most who disagree don't golf much, don't have all the facts, or are operating on false assumptions.

 

EDIT: Sorry, forgot to edit the language before I clicked post. Fixed right away.

[NeedMoreFans]

That whole post was awesome!

 

After listening to the talk radio guys and reading the news today, the only thing that should have been done was the PGA officials should have directed the marshals to push the crowd back and out of the bunker. People should not have been that close (even if he was just in rough), and people should not have been lined up on both sides of him the way they were. Other than that, the right call was made.

[RU Rah Rah]

There were lots of photos online yesterday showing the bunker. With no one standing around/in it, you can clearly tell it's a bunker. Had the area been reasonably cleared out by the marshals, Johnson most likely would have figured out that he was in a bunker and not grounded his club.

 

The more I think about this, the less I think it's Johnson's fault. The PGA allowed a weird situation to develop (with the gallery blocking a full view of the bunker) and then expected him to figure out the appropriate rule -- all while he prepared to hit what should have been the biggest shot of his career. At the very least, the rules official walking with the group should have been proactive about the rules and told him, "Hey, just FYI -- you're in a bunker here."

 

(I know that they claim that the rules officials can only answer questions, but I think that's b.s. When Watson hit into the hazard on the last playoff hole, he and the rules official had a 10 minute conversation in which the official clearly volunteered information, laid out options for the drop, etc. He didn't wait for Watson to drop in the wrong place and then say, "Ah ha! You misinterpreted the rule!")

 

The caddy really messed up, too. It's his job to be on top of stuff like this.

 

I am wondering if someone is looking at all the PGA, TNT, and CBS tapes to see if Watson or Kaymer did anything similar earlier in the week. That would be interesting.

[jhart05]

Yes, I'm a golfer. I know the rules, and I know the correct ruling was made but that wasn't my issue with the call.

 

"the only thing that should have been done was the PGA officials should have directed the marshals to push the crowd back and out of the bunker."

 

That's what I'm saying as well. It was the last hole and the last group of the day. All marshals were available. With that many people around him, grassy patches around the ball, garbage on the ground, it was very hard to tell it was indeed a bunker. They could have had at least half the marshals over there pushing the people back so everyone could clearly see it was in fact a bunker and not simply a grassy waste area that had been worn down from people walking and standing there.

 

Johnson is clearly not without fault himself. But it was poorly handled by the PGA, at a time when they need to draw more fans, with Tiger not on top and Phil not playing his best (althou he did seem to find something on Sunday). This will not help, it will only turn people off.

[Baldkin]

Instead of being in the Media for about 4 hours, this story has now dragged on for 2 extra days. I don't think it's turning people off. There's no such thing as bad publicity.

[bigredrobbo]

Man, it's tied All Star Game non-story all over again!

 

1. PGA officials should have cleared a bigger area of fans, so that Johnson could really see the bunker for what it was.

2. Johnson admitted to not reading an official local rules message that was in multiple places in the clubhouse, even on the bathroom mirrors, apparently! Ignorance of the rules, in any sport, but particularly one as rules-driven as golf, is no excuse.

3. It's not up to the official to either warn, or tell him, that he's in a bunker. Had Johnson (or his caddy, who's job consists of things like this) asked for a ruling, one would have been given.

4. This isn't baseball. A player almost NEVER admits when he knows he's wrong in baseball. A hit batter that didn't, a trapped catch in the outfield - when was the last time a guy put his hand up to admit the call was wrong? In golf, a player routinely will police himself - just one of the reasons golf is so respected, rather than losing casual fans, as has been suggested.

5. How would one of the other guys feel sitting in the clubhouse, knowing that he could and should be the champion if not for the blown call? The blown call would have been the failure to penalize Johnson, not the refusal to allow him into the playoff.

6. After Stuart Appleby was penalized 4 shots for 2 bunker infractions at Kohler back in 2004, shouldn't EVERY golfer this year be paranoid about getting the bunker rules right?

7. The lack of sportsmanship of the fans towards Kaymer was saddening. Dude did everything required of him and he'll be forgotten in all the non-controversy that's followed.

8. Finally, does anyone really believe this issue would have lasted an extra 10 minutes, rather than 2 days, had it been the German Kaymer that had made the mistake, rather than the American Johnson? I think the patriotism element is definitely a factor in the extra column inches generated.

[JJHardy7]

Instead of being in the Media for about 4 hours, this story has now dragged on for 2 extra days. I don't think it's turning people off. There's no such thing as bad publicity.

 

Maybe...I know there was a HUGE celebration on the last hole in the playoff! I kid, I kid.

 

In all seriousness though, Johnson winning would've been great for golf in the US. That is the real shame (I'm not saying he doesn't get any blame). I think we need another guy to root for and with Dustin's age and performance in the US Open (before the final day) he would've been the new life for fans. It's a shame he didn't win (or Bubba for that matter). I'm not knocking on the winner, but for US viewers if Tiger doesn't figure it out and Phil is hot and cold that is going to lead to the sport not being popular unless there is a 'new' guy to root for. Dustin seems to have the game, the personalty, etc. to be that guy. It's a shame he and those involved screwed this up. I still think there's no way they should've let the mess happen with the crowd. That doesn't mean he would've won, but at the end of the day his 'penalty' had nothing to do with his shot. I've golfed there...I get the rule. At the end of the day though, it didn't impact his shot. The rule needs to be there, but the fact that he got a penalty and it didn't aid him makes this more difficult to justify (and again...I know based on the rules they had to call it....IMO it should not have gone that far).