Comments on: Johnson Finds No Escape From This Trap

By: Charles Wright

Charles Wright — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 20:49:39 +0000

The PGA deserves a big black eye for this travesty. By not controlling spectators and relying on a video instead of an official in the field they have robbed this young man of a rightful chance at their highest awarded tournament. The PGA should be very proud.

By: R Suder

R Suder — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 19:54:29 +0000

Ok, now then;
Martin Kaymer won fair and square
The correct ruling was applied
It’s a dumb rule however
Fix it for next time please
There needs be consistency on a course what is classified as a ‘bunker’
For the same penalty to apply they need to be classified and treated the same
For Example;
**All raked or none raked
**All marked or none marked
**Fans can stand in all bunkers or no bunkers
This includes ‘bunkers’ by the greens or anywhere on the course
Therefore in the future there needs to be either a level of consistency on how the rules are applied to a hazard that is classified as a bunker, OR they can’t all be classified as a bunker and ones that fit a differant criteria need to be called something else and the rules applied to each seperate classification.
So in a nutshell, call a spade a spade

By: B Read

B Read — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 20:45:41 +0000

Do I understand (does anybody?) from the rules (?ruling) that any player whose ball was on (or might be on) a few grains of sand should not have grounded their club? How many went unpunished over the four days? It is unavoidable to compare this with Tiger’s two hundredweight lose impediment (and his over the roof and into the carpark – that’s OK Tiger!) rulings. Unfortunately it seems that idiots sometimes make the rules and other idiots apply them – and I’m a European who was delighted to see Martin Kaymer win but would have been even more pleased if he’d won in the three man playoff that would have been the just climax to an enthralling last nine holes.

By: Joe

Joe — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 17:30:19 +0000

I agree that ultimately the responsibility falls on Johnson, but a significant amount of blame needs to go with the rules official. I was watching Golf Channel last night and they interviewed the rules official. He stated that when he walked up to the ball there was no doubt in his mind that it was a bunker. The only thing he did was ask Johnson if there was anything he needed. Johnson only said that he needed room to make his shot.

I was under the impression that it was Johnson’s responsibility to ask if it was a bunker. I found out this morning, again on the Golf Channel, that this is not the case. During the US Open, a couple of years ago, Rocco Mediate had a free drop. When he dropped the ball it hit in the drop zone, but bounced out. Mediate went to pick the ball up and do a redrop. The rules official yelled to him that it was a live ball and Mediate played from that spot. Had the rules official not called out Mediate would have been penalized. The rules official should have said to Johnson on walking up to the ball: “You’re in a bunker.”

I believe, the right thing for the PGA to have done would have been, did you know you were in a bunker? No. Did you ground your club? Yes. Mr. Rules Official, did you know he was in a bunker? Yes. Did you warn him that he was in a bunker? No. Ruling: No penalty. I’m sure Johnson’s first reaction to being told he was in a bunker was “You SOB, why didn’t you say anything!” He handled the situation with class and should be commended.

Can’t wait for Whistling Straight in 5 years!

By: Charles Karlsson

Charles Karlsson — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 13:25:34 +0000

Keep spectators off the course , or move it to another venue;like Virginia

By: SchwarzStop

SchwarzStop — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 22:58:37 +0000

If all the golfers were made aware that sand traps exist inside AND OUTSIDE the ropes and it certainly appears they were – both in writing and verbally and reminded by signage in the clubhouse – the ruling is correct, as tragic as it may have been for Dustin Johnson. I believe the PGA would have applied the same ruling if Tiger or Phil had made the same error, but its an irrelevant argument because they did not make the same error.

I said at the time while watching on CBS that he should ask to clear the people further away, give him some space. Maybe if he had, he would have had a better feel for his ball position. CBS showed a ball track animation that showed the ball landing in a group of bunkers. I’m guessing the course yardage books had a picture of the area and perhaps could’ve indicated that he may be in a bunker.

It all comes down to… Golf has its rules and as a PROFESSIONAL, it is part of your job to know the rules. The nature of the game as in baseball is that different courses have quirks. The PGA did their job by making the golfers aware of Whistling Strait quirks. Furthermore, every tournament has Rules Officials available for any question the golfer has. It is Dustin’s fault he ignored the warnings and failed to ask for a ruling.

The fact that he never disputed the ruling is an indication that he recognizes his mistake.

By: Len Halldorson

Len Halldorson — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 19:14:55 +0000

If That would have been tiger woods it would not have been a trap just like the boulder was a loose inpediment

By: John Oconnor

John Oconnor — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 18:49:35 +0000

Four days of golf ruined by the PGA. I won’t watch any more events at Whistling Straits. Boo!!

By: Al Sherbo

Al Sherbo — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 18:22:35 +0000

An unfortunate situation, but ruled correctly under the circumstances. For any further events at Whistling Straits, I suggest: the gallery should be kept away from any bunkers – wherever they are – or the bunkers should be filled in (at least for the event), or clearly marked or flagged as such, if they need to get the gallery that close. Many of us have seen how torn up a course can get with a lot of foot traffic. Let’s not have this happen again at a major tournament … and even less at a Ryder Cup!

By: David Judd

David Judd — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 18:14:49 +0000

I think your take on Dustin Johnson is provocative, and not thought provoking. Clearly, the majority of the responses here represent a closer proximity to the truth than your pathetic attempt humiliate Mr. Johnson.

The disaster at the 2010 PGA Championship began long before Dustin Johnson grounded his club in the alleged bunker. Your statement that he grounded his club in a hazard in in error; the fact is the ruling at the time was that he grounded his club in a bunker, not a hazard. The standards for a course, either in amateur or professional golf, includes bunkers within the fairway or next to the greens, and that is a fair and a Just challenge.

Just as there are standards for equipment, there must be standards for a course. This is the challenge of the bunker in golf. In this case the course did not meet the standards of a golf course when the PGA ruled that the areas out side of the ropes would be played as if they were inside the ropes and gave access to the public to gather upon those portions of the course thereby altering there nature.

A course to be fair, and must present all golfers with the same conditions with the lone exception being the weather for which there is no control. However, the care and consistency of the course lies in the hands of the governing committee. In this case, there was no way that the course could be properly maintained as the public was to be allowed onto the that portion of the course. therefore, those areas outside of control of the hosting body, could not, and should not, have been declared to be part of the course.

This is the second major this year to succumb to a failure to ensure that the course met a standard suitable for a golf tournament; the first being the conditions of the greens at the US Open. The PGA, while setting up the course to allow “conditions to prevail,” (meaning the weather) did a nice job. Yet, that same governing body made a huge mistake when it allowed the public to trample the course

The fault lies not in Mr. Johnson, but in the PGA, who, like all great committees, make horrid decisions at the wrong time. The decision to include areas outside of the course as part of the course was further compounded by allowing the public to assemble on the course proper. The resulting trampling of these declared bunkers added to the potential for a disaster to happen, and it did happen.

There has always been controversy surrounding Pete Dye designed courses. The use of “unnatural” material such as railroad ties is the most obvious. When the wrong people are getting attention, be it Mr. Dye, or Mike Davis at the U.S. Open, you are going to have a problem. The golfers, and rightfully so, are the celebrities, not the designers or the janitors.

The proof of error lies in the fruit born by the tree. This is not to take anything away from Mr. Kaymer, the eventual champion, but rather the say that his challenge should have included Dustin Johnson in the playoff.

The fault, once again, lies in rule by committee.