"The four biggest events in golf are too important to be compromised to the extent that last week was."
John Huggan makes two valid points with regard to the PGA, Whistling Straits and Dustin Johnson. The first:
Much has already been written about Johnson's culpability or otherwise during those farcical few minutes and, sadly, most has been childishly simplistic in its condemnation of the 26-year-old American. To say he got what he deserved - "rules are rules" - because he failed to read the local rules sheet handed out to every competitor is to miss the point by the widest of margins.
Let's say Johnson had read the sheet and familiarised himself with every intricacy and nuance of the "extra" rules in place over owner Herb Kohler's and architect Pete Dye's endlessly eccentric layout. What difference would that have made to what happened on the 18th? None whatsoever.
Think about it. Johnson's unfortunate and, it must be conceded, dopey mistake was not that he didn't know the rules; surrounded by spectators, he simply did not realise that his wayward drive had finished in a hazard. That much was obvious when he grounded his 4-iron behind the ball, it being safe to assume that someone playing golf at the highest level is aware that such a move is illegal.
And this regarding local rules and majors.
Anyway, the bottom line is this. If we assume that the presence of local rules represents an admission that something is amiss with a course - which they do - then Whistling Straits, in its present state, can surely have no place in major championship play. The four biggest events in golf are too important to be compromised to the extent that last week was. At one point Sky TV showed pictures of children building sand castles in what were, technically at least, bunkers. Before 2015, when the USPGA is due to return to rural Wisconsin, 90 per cent of them should either be filled in or deemed to be something other than hazards.
Sunday, August 22, 2010 at 12:52 AM
Reader Comments (28)
Am in total agreement about the crazy number of bunkers though.If they filled in 90% there would still be plenty left and I think it would still be a challenging course.Not so good looking from an airship perhaps-but I know what I'd prefer.
Should the referee tell Fred Brown before he throws away the ball to North Carolina, "Hey remember that guy is on the other team?"
DJ choked under pressure. It happens.
The real villain in this whole sorry saga is the course set-up not the rules of golf.
Yes, Johnson made a negligent mistake and was properly penalized for it. But that the rules official under the highly-unusual circumstances was more interested in being a marshal than making sure that Johnson knew that this particular bunker was disguised as a sandbox for the fans is a more egregious error than Johnson's.
Mind you they are only golf pros and not journalists so no doubt they dont know what they are talking about!
Amen to that, and it's only fitting that if Herb or Pete pass before then, that they be buried in one or two of them. Now I'm off to church.
Coming down the stretch, DJ was thinking about one thing only -- winning the tournament. He had just birdied 16 and 17, and was a stroke in the lead. Maybe a more deliberate player would have questioned the lie, but Johnson is impatient, aggressive, and bold -- and he was in the arena, in in the moment, in the chase, closing in on the biggest prize of his career.
In hindsight, it's easy to see that he should have slowed down and asked for a ruling. But it's silly to say he choked. There've been lots of sports analogies, but how about a business analogy -- DJ was like an entrepreneur completely focussed on making something happen. He wasn't thinking about the regulations or laws that might hold him back. That was the lawyer's job.
What not make it the official's job to ensure that local rules are observed? There's just too much going on in today's big tournaments to expect a player to stay focussed on his game -- and at the same time think like a rules official. Why not do what other sports have done and get the all-seeing TV camera involved enforcing the rules?
The answer can no longer be that golf has a sacrosanct "tradition" and that the whole structure of the game would crumble without it. IMHO, the opposite is more likely -- it will do more harm to the game to stick to a tradition that is so obviously and dangerously flawed.
The rules are supposed to ensure that the game is played fairly and the the outcome of the contest is just. But the outcome of PGA Championship was manifestly unjust. Time to fix the rules.
Yes, we all - in varying degrees - sympathize with DJ and what happened on the 72nd hole. . . I sympathize with many people who suffer bad outcomes in life even if they resulted from bad decisions. . .But empathy should not be used as an excuse for taking away personal decision making or the ultimate responsibility for choices.
And yeah, I remember Trey Holland's(?) ruling for Ernie Els at Oakmont. I remember sitting there thinking that that thing is on wheels; it is mobile and can be moved. As it was shortly thereafter. It wouldn't be a surprise if it keeps him up at night, once in a while, to this very day.
http://picasaweb.google.com/FXFlinn/DJAtWS#
Nothing conclusive. As NRH said in a previous post, the only thing that matters is that DJ didn't insist on going back to the scene to determine if in fact he was inside the designed margin of the hazard.
TV time and a need for a finish screwed a great ending to an exciting fourth day.
Golf lost a lot of respect, and, while I agree that DJ has the ultimate responsibity, he was whirlwinded into a place where the question was akin to "do you still beat your wife?"
Where is the followup from some of these pansy golf pundits? where is the TV crew out on site filming the actual spot the ball was? Is BP behind the lack of real reporting. Were WMD involved?
Screwed but not kissed.
digsouth
Agree with the sentiment that DJ maybe let himself get bullied. He is probably too nice of a guy to make a scene.
His only legitimate case is that he was possibly outside the left edge of the bunker, as I see it.
Any opinions on what would have transpired had Tiger been DJ in that exact situation?
Would the ruling and player reaction have been the same?
I would think that Phil would have stood up to the accusation, no doubt.
I would think the rules official would have cowered and crawled away at the insinuation that TW may have broken a rule. No penalty....we have a playoff and more commercials to sell.
have a great Sunday.
digsouth
Now I've heard it all. When did golf go from being a sport in which you're responsible for yourself to one, like football, where we rely on others?
Puh-lease.
DJ had a heckuva lot of things to think about under the circumstances The RO really only had one -- that the player was aware that the unusual lie was in a bunker despite the dozens of people standing around it.
Both DJ and the RO blew it. Although the consequences of DJ's mistakes were greater, the RO's mistake was worse.
I'm unclear.
If your statement carries any weight , then DJ said he was NOT in a bunker, and that should stand.
If you insinuate that "I" think the RO created a bigger infraction than DJ, well, I cannot see you quantum leap of blame.
I simply think that the player should have defended his position, and was caught off guard and not thinking, and failed to defend his position. He had just missed a putt for the Title, and then he is slammed with a loaded question....
The RO was simply repeating what he was told to say.
I'm done with this.
play well.
digsouth
And no, I wasn't talking to you, digsouth.
However, you are wrong about the duties of the RO. He is there to ensure that the rules are followed and to answer questions of the competitors regarding application of them. It is common for RO's to provide advice -- solicited or unsolicited -- to the competitors if they are at risk of violating a rule unintentionally. DJ was in that situation at Whistling Straits and the RO failed to recognize it.
ROs are not responsible for the actions of their players. In general they'll do their best to prevent a rules infraction when possible, but they can't read the entire rule book to every player before every shot in order to try to prevent infractions.
The RO in this case thought it was obvious Dustin was in a bunker and that he would be able to handle the situation appropriately, particularly as he said he needed no assistance. The RO's job at that point is to get out of the way.
Even if it wasn't obvious, HIS BALL WAS SITTING ON SAND. At the very least, isn't that cause for asking the question?
And as others had said, if it was Kaymer in that situation, this issue wouldn't have gotten 1/10th the attention.
F.X., is Feherty seen in any of the footage being near the ball, or is he likewise far away and observing it on the little TV his assistant carries with him? The walking commentators are rarely as close to the action as you think they are, particularly when the ball is well offline and into the crowd.
But y'know, I'm done. Dustin broke the rule, it's his own darn fault, and it was properly enforced. We can debate the stupid minutiae all we want but it won't change the facts of the matter.
If you aren't done, that is.
Is that boat as wide as believing there's such a thing as white dirt?
I can take you to a place south of here where there is white dirt. Not that unusual.
It is soft and there is a lot of it that becomes 'dirt'. White dirt.
DJ was on sand, overspill from the bunker he was next to. I can take you to 20 courses around here where sand is next to the margin of a bunker. Not that unusual.
He OBVIOUSLY did not think he was in the hazard.. because he was not.
digsouth
But about that white dirt........
white dirt....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caliche_(mineral)
play well.