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Sounded fine for me. Other than when they said they "may" impose a penalty stroke on DJ. I love golf - but for crying out loud, many of the rules are just idiotic.
The USGA should have just given Dustin Johnson the benefit of the doubt there. But I love the fact that DJ played well enough to render it a moot point. Good for him!
The USGA should have just given Dustin Johnson the benefit of the doubt there. But I love the fact that DJ played well enough to render it a moot point. Good for him!
Agreed. Or, just impose the penalty stroke right then. Make a frigging decision, USGA. Don't just hang that over someone's head during the final 6 holes of a major.
So glad DJ stepped up and simply made it a moot point.
Agreed. Or, just impose the penalty stroke right then. Make a frigging decision, USGA. Don't just hang that over someone's head during the final 6 holes of a major.
So glad DJ stepped up and simply made it a moot point.
My guess is that the USGA, or whoever was responsible for that fiasco yesterday concerning that penalty stroke, won't handle it like that again. For one thing, just having such a thing planted in a golfer's head is unfair whether eventually there is a penalty or not. How about if someone goes up to Johnson in the middle of the final round of the U.S. Open and tells him that his wife was just seen leaving with Rory McIlroy's caddie. "But Dustin, don't think about it. Just keep playing."
Then there was the idea of telling him they might penalize him at the end of the round. The spokesperson in the network booth said that they wanted to warn Johnson just in case he might want to change his strategy should they decide to penalize him. I'm listening to that on TV and I immediate state that their thinking has no logic. How can I, a renown idiot, see that and they can't? Here is the problem: let's say Johnson assumes he is going to be penalized, goes for a green he would not normally go for, and knocks the ball into an unplayable lie costing him two strokes. He then finishes one stroke back only to be told as he walks off the 18th green that they've decided not to penalize him. Just the threat of being penalized cost him the Open.
Agreed. Or, just impose the penalty stroke right then. Make a frigging decision, USGA. Don't just hang that over someone's head during the final 6 holes of a major.
So glad DJ stepped up and simply made it a moot point.
"Or, just impose the penalty stroke right then"
The referee ON THe scene did NOT impose the penalty.
If they are going to have a ref on the scene, HIS ruling SHOULD stand.
IMO, it was on of the most ridiculous "later" rulings I have ever scene.
After looking at the replay in slow motion it is OBVIOUS that DJ did NOT cause the ball to move.
A very bad call to impose the penalty.
I have NOT heard one spots annoncer agree with the call.
MANY of the pro golfers responded that it was a ridiculous call.
The golf organization should be ashamed of themselves!
I believe that they discontinued reviewing the video when some viewers called in and says a player committed a foul.
I have not read whether Johnson was penalized or not. We stopped watching after his birdie on hole 18 which locked it up.
What the USGA did by delaying the ruling to after the round was to give themselves an option they should not have given themselves. The ability to "penalize or not penalize" based on Johnson's margin of victory.
Oh well we (USGA) are glad he won by two so let's give the penalty.
Giving the ruling after the round was a non event had it been the Thursday or Friday or Saturday or to a player who was over par.
We saw one or two camera angles. If the rules committee was 10 persons and all saw the same TV shots why could they not come to a consensus before the players got to holes 11 through 18.
I have not read whether Johnson was penalized or not. We stopped watching after his birdie on hole 18 which locked it up.
What the USGA did by delaying the ruling to after the round was to give themselves an option they should not have given themselves. The ability to "penalize or not penalize" based on Johnson's margin of victory.
Oh well we (USGA) are glad he won by two so let's give the penalty.
Giving the ruling after the round was a non event had it been the Thursday or Friday or Saturday or to a player who was over par.
We saw one or two camera angles. If the rules committee was 10 persons and all saw the same TV shots why could they not come to a consensus before the players got to holes 11 through 18.
He was, but with a 4 shot margin, it was a moot point. And I agree, the USGA F'd up big time.
If you're going to have a rules official walk with every group, you have to allow them to make the call, and stick with it. We all complain about bad calls in sports. But at least in every other sport, a call is made before the next play. You can't overrule your own official, say we'll decide later, and hold that crap over a competitors head.
To add another example, this is like doing a touchdown review in the NFL after the game. Hey, it may have been a touchdown, but we'll look at it after the game.... WTF?
Many of the golf rules are antiquated and should be changed. In this day and age, there's no reason a professional golfer should ever be disqualified for signing a wrong score card (or even have to sign a score card). And remove the ability for viewers to call in infractions.
As for the ball moving - they should change it so that it has to be blatant that the player caused it to move. With the greens so fast these days, it's likely that DJ 'MAY' have caused the ball to become "unstable" when he soled his putter between practice swings. Or depending on the wind conditions holding a putter behind the ball actually can cause a vacuum effect. But in either case, there is absolute no intent of wrongdoing nor does the player gain any advantage. Just replace and go on.
I've never heard of a putter having a vaccuum effect on a ball. It's possible his practice strokes made the ball a little unstable since he takes them so close to the ball, and I think that was what the USGA based its ruling on. In any case, issuing the penalty after the round was just plain wrong. Either do it when the violation was committed or don't do it at all.
At least DJ pulled out the win. I'm sure he'd have rather won it without all the drama that seems to happen to him in majors.
I've never heard of a putter having a vaccuum effect on a ball. It's possible his practice strokes made the ball a little unstable since he takes them so close to the ball, and I think that was what the USGA based its ruling on. In any case, issuing the penalty after the round was just plain wrong. Either do it when the violation was committed or don't do it at all.
At least DJ pulled out the win. I'm sure he'd have rather won it without all the drama that seems to happen to him in majors.
" It's possible his practice strokes made the ball a little unstable since he takes them so close to the ball"
looking at the action in slow no shows DJ grounding his putter BETWEEN himself and the ball.
He then has to putter in the air BEHIND the ball. The ball moves slightly TOWARD the putter.
There is NO WAY his putter on the ground in front of him could cause the ball to move TOWARD the putter when it was BEHIND that ball.
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