Dustin Johnson Ruling...

[GolfBagCheck.com]

Still digesting this... my initial thought listening to Mark Wilson from the PGA explain it is not sitting well. I think regardless of the ruling, it is highly unfortunate for everybody involved. Just wish Dustin had ripped a drive down the middle.

[Matt Saternus]

Jason Sobel made a fair point (IMO) on his ESPN feed. He said,, and I'm paraphrasing: the rule is fair, they told all the players that every bit of sand is a bunker, but how many other players grounded their clubs throughout the week? Because Dustin was in the last group on Sunday, it was on camera and everyone saw it, so he was penalized.

[mudfish]

I thought about that too... not that I would like to see them go back and penalize everyone, but an equal playing ground would be nice...

 

 

I still say the ruling was correct though...

[GolfBagCheck.com]

Jason Sobel made a fair point (IMO) on his ESPN feed. He said,, and I'm paraphrasing: the rule is fair, they told all the players that every bit of sand is a bunker, but how many other players grounded their clubs throughout the week? Because Dustin was in the last group on Sunday, it was on camera and everyone saw it, so he was penalized.

 

I thought the same thing. Brandel Chamblee has been talking all night about how every player in the field had the same rules. But i wonder if maybe bubba or kaymer had been there on thurs thru saturday and no one noticed.

 

at the end of the day - this could be another feel good moment for the integrity of the game and why golf is different from other sports. but to me it might be another nail in the coffin sending golf on the way of tennis to be a niche sport. how great would that playoff been. instead we had a playoff that no one cares about.

[jamo]

I'll give the same reply as I did in the interview thread: basically the rule was flawed (they should have been waste areas IMO), but DJ should have known the rule. He should also never have grounded his club if there was even a sliver of doubt. It was DJ mistake.

[Justin66]

He should also never have grounded his club if there was even a sliver of doubt. It was DJ mistake.

 

Bingo. Exactly why Nicklaus never ground his club. It can be excused for high school, maybe even college golf... but when you get to the pros, you should know the rules by then.

[jamo]

Bingo. Exactly why Nicklaus never ground his club. It can be excused for high school, maybe even college golf... but when you get to the pros, you should know the rules by then.

 

Yeah, and the thing is in his interview DJ made it seem like he didn't have that sliver of doubt.

 

Wake up buddy- this is golf, you should always he watching yourself for rules violations. On a course with 5 billion sand traps if the area you are in has a grain of sand you HAVE to ask for a ruling.

 

Like I said- the rule sucked, but it was DJ's fault he lost.

[RookieBlue7]

I'm just trying to figure out why with his length he didn't just hit 3 wood and a slightly longer iron to the middle of the green. As for the ruling, well, the rules sheet was distributed that told them if it was designed as a bunker, it's to be played as one. Why the PGA let spectators sit in, stand in, and play in the bunkers baffles me. Also, the soil up there has a lot of sand content to it, jam 10,000 people on it for 6 days and you're going to have trampled areas. But, there was a defined lip (a lady was sitting on it right in front of him). He should've asked. I think he knew when he backed off and asked them to shadow the ball. He then grounded it 2 more times, IMO, in an effort to make it look like he didn't realize it was a bunker. That said, why didn't anyone there, fans or the rules official remind him it was a bunker? Lots of explainations, none make this any different. I'm just glad he jabbed at the putt and didn't make it.

[TWShoot67]

The rule is the rule.... but I feel it made the PGA championship look like a NON Major, by not having a line drawn where people,golf carts, name any other devise that will cause s*** lies just makes it a non level playing feild for all participants. This make a mokery of the game in my opinion and I find it laughable that you can allow patrons to trample in bunkers. There's not another TOURNEY where they let patrons , golf carts run rampid through the bunkers. Could you amagine seeing spectators sitting at AUGUSTA in bunkers along fairways and kids building sandcastles in bunkers then telling the players play it where it lies, because that's what the PGA is saying. I find it did nothing but give this great game a hugh black eye. I don't care about what Mr. PGA rules president or chairman said well we posted this in the locker room and it was rule #1 on local rules sheet. This is what makes many people believe that the game needs to join the 21ST century!! 90% of these crazy golf rules like not fixing "spike marks" another dumb ass rule excuse my french but seriously some rules just because someone says they are rules don't make them "CORRECT" if they want this great game to grow we need to just add a little bit of common sense. Bye DJ grounding his club next to the ball ...did he gain an advantage??? NO! Heck the guy was made to hit a ball in an area where 10,000 people kicked trampled destrayed any integridy that resembled a bunker. The PGA really needs to look that dumb a$$ rule over and change it. if you want to play a great course like they just did this past week they need to adjust to the situation. GOD forbid we play the Ryder Cup here and have these same dumb rules in place and loose a match over this same crap. And please don't tell me it won't happen again because it already happened at the same course to stuart applebee a few yeqars prior. Made a great Major just look like a mickey mouse tourney... very very sad ending to what was a great week! JMHO

[Justin66]

Go back and look at old photos of the Bobby Jones era, or even Nicklaus and Trevino's heydays... there were people clamoring all over the place! Chamblee even made a mention of this on the "Live From" telecast after the tourney.

[xxio]

For the guys who feel like it should be a waste area how would you be able differentiate from the ones that would be considered hazards?

 

Put red paint around the hundreds that are? That would be a logistical nightmare over 4 days. The way the PGA took was the one with the most common sense. It is a course flaw to have so many useless bunkers.

 

It was a shame, just like that pitch DJ tried to do with an upturned club on the last day of Pebble beach. he acted with useless haste.

 

He should have taken his time assessed the situation, asked a rules official if it was a bunker.

[TWShoot67]

Go back and look at old photos of the Bobby Jones era, or even Nicklaus and Trevino's heydays... there were people clamoring all over the place! Chamblee even made a mention of this on the "Live From" telecast after the tourney.

So because something happened say 40-50-75 years ago makes it right now? Come on Justin66. yeah and they were putting on greens that goats cutt, get real this is 2010. Not 1910-20-30-40. Things progress and this was a step back. THE PGA has run a crappy major and it's just gotten proven again and again. It's supposed to be a Major. So another words your telling me patrons where sitting in bunkers and carts were driving all through Augusta's bunkers. i'd like to see that footage. The fans use to gather around when the final group where on the green and around there approach shots. I thought we should be trying to better the game not GO BACKWARDS!

[TWShoot67]

For the guys who feel like it should be a waste area how would you be able differentiate from the ones that would be considered hazards?

 

Put red paint around the hundreds that are? That would be a logistical nightmare over 4 days. The way the PGA took was the one with the most common sense. It is a course flaw to have so many useless bunkers.

 

It was a shame, just like that pitch DJ tried to do with an upturned club on the last day of Pebble beach. he acted with useless haste.

 

He should have taken his time assessed the situation, asked a rules official if it was a bunker.

 

It could be easily addressed with a stake line just like out of bounds. very easily handled bunkers on inside of line are bunkers and outside waste areas/ Done handled. Can you honestly say this doesn't give this Major a black eye? If so then we just disagree, which is fine. I just want the game to grow and have rules that just work... having little girls building sand castles in bunkers or waste areas while players are trying to win what is supposed to be 1/4 of the most important event of the year and it comes down to what we witnessed, I feel is a detriment to the game.

[xxio]

Stakes would even be less permanent than the red paint. A little rain, a little wind, a spectator looking for a souvenir, next thing you know you have 150 stakes out of 600 that you planted left and no references. Just imagine what 1 or 2 missing stakes would do to the "shape".

 

Yes it is a black eye. I never said it wasn't.

 

I'm asking how people would have wanted those bunkers marked/differentiated. IMHO they all looked the same before people started trampling on them. Who determines which ones are in play which ones are waste areas. I'm just saying the PGA used the most common sensical (??) solution.

 

WS is not a spectator friendly design.

 

DJ blew this one just as much as the PGA did. There is sand underneath and around your ball on the 18th hole of a major that you are in contention of, would it kill you to take an extra 2 minutes to get a ruling?

[Justin66]

So because something happened say 40-50-75 years ago makes it right now? Come on Justin66. yeah and they were putting on greens that goats cutt, get real this is 2010. Not 1910-20-30-40. Things progress and this was a step back. THE PGA has run a crappy major and it's just gotten proven again and again. It's supposed to be a Major. So another words your telling me patrons where sitting in bunkers and carts were driving all through Augusta's bunkers. i'd like to see that footage. The fans use to gather around when the final group where on the green and around there approach shots. I thought we should be trying to better the game not GO BACKWARDS!

 

I've never been there, but I thought carts weren't allowed at Augusta... Also, from everything I've gathered EVERYTHING is different at Augusta- that'd be the one place where none of this stuff happens. Of course, with their bunkers being so different, it'd be a lot harder to have a similar misjudgement.

 

Besides, isn't that one of golf's perks? You can't get that close to Peyton Manning or Frank Gore at a football game, or Cliff Lee at a baseball game. But golf? You can be right there as Tiger, Phil, DJ or any other golfer hits their shots, all the while being (hopefully) unobtrusive. It's that level of closeness that sparates golf from the other sports, I think.

[Justin66]

Stakes would even be less permanent than the red paint. A little rain, a little wind, a spectator looking for a souvenir, next thing you know you have 150 stakes out of 600 that you planted left and no references. Just imagine what 1 or 2 missing stakes would do to the "shape".

 

Yes it is a black eye. I never said it wasn't.

 

I'm asking how people would have wanted those bunkers marked/differentiated. IMHO they all looked the same before people started trampling on them. Who determines which ones are in play which ones are waste areas. I'm just saying the PGA used the most common sensical (??) solution.

 

WS is not a spectator friendly design.

 

DJ blew this one just as much as the PGA did. There is sand underneath and around your ball on the 18th hole of a major that you are in contention of, would it kill you to take an extra 2 minutes to get a ruling?

 

Not only that, but look at all the courses in Europe that WS is based off of. People out for a Sunday stroll, kids playing nearby, bunkers everywhere... the Open Championship doesn't have this problem. It definitely wouldn't have hurt DJ to ask, or have his caddy ask (or read the rules sheet).

[Tyk]

Given that the rules were so thouroughly and clearly stated, and the absolutely ridiculous bunkering of the course (which is why the rules about them were so thorough) I can't see any reason why any player would ever walk up to a ball on sand there and not ASSUME they were in a bunker. I would think one would clarify with a rules official if they were going to play a ball out of sand with the idea that they were NOT in a bunker!

 

I can't imagine what DJ was thinking, what a terrible mistake, but its his mistake alone, imo.

[banistr]

I've never been there, but I thought carts weren't allowed at Augusta... Also, from everything I've gathered EVERYTHING is different at Augusta- that'd be the one place where none of this stuff happens. Of course, with their bunkers being so different, it'd be a lot harder to have a similar misjudgement.

 

Besides, isn't that one of golf's perks? You can't get that close to Peyton Manning or Frank Gore at a football game, or Cliff Lee at a baseball game. But golf? You can be right there as Tiger, Phil, DJ or any other golfer hits their shots, all the while being (hopefully) unobtrusive. It's that level of closeness that sparates golf from the other sports, I think.

 

 

I've played Augusta National and they have cart's... the average age of the members at AN is 70! If you remember correctly, the rules officials at Augusta National made a horrid ruling on a call when Ernie Els was 15 yards in the tree line left on #11 and his ball came to rest in a pile of old tree limbs. He was clearly "off the gold course" and they gave him a "Free drop" and deemed it "storm debris" which is considered a "local rule"..haha Everyone makes their crazy calls, but at the end of the day...It's the PGAs tournament and they can run it how they wish.

[dcmccobb]

We probably all agree that Dustin shouldn't have grounded his club. Also, his caddy should have been on it also, and asked if Dustin was in a bunker.

 

We all hate to see these things happen, but there is no question that everyone has to adhere to the rules.

 

Don McCobb

[Justin66]

I've played Augusta National and they have cart's... the average age of the members at AN is 70! If you remember correctly, the rules officials at Augusta National made a horrid ruling on a call when Ernie Els was 15 yards in the tree line left on #11 and his ball came to rest in a pile of old tree limbs. He was clearly "off the gold course" and they gave him a "Free drop" and deemed it "storm debris" which is considered a "local rule"..haha Everyone makes their crazy calls, but at the end of the day...It's the PGAs tournament and they can run it how they wish.

 

You've played it? I've always heard there were some pretty dramatic declines and inclines... is that true?

[NGage]

Given that the rules were so thouroughly and clearly stated, and the absolutely ridiculous bunkering of the course (which is why the rules about them were so thorough) I can't see any reason why any player would ever walk up to a ball on sand there and not ASSUME they were in a bunker. I would think one would clarify with a rules official if they were going to play a ball out of sand with the idea that they were NOT in a bunker!

 

I can't imagine what DJ was thinking, what a terrible mistake....

 

^^^^^^^

This.