OT Dustin Johnson Grounding club

[Beninator]

Thoughts??? I know that we have some golfers on this board. Personally I look at golf as a reason to drink beer, but given the situation, I thought the penalty was petty and exposed a flaw on how the PGA governed the tournament.

[houstontxbrave]

Thoughts??? I know that we have some golfers on this board. Personally I look at golf as a reason to drink beer, but given the situation, I thought the penalty was petty and exposed a flaw on how the PGA governed the tournament.

To me as a golfer and knowing golf is full of rules and yes some are petty but they are rules, he should have and his caddy certainly should have, realized there were over 1200 "bunks" on that course. Every single group has a rules official, they needed to call one over and ask is this in a bunker.

Never assume especially on that course that a ball is just in a dry spot.

Terrible situation but its on him to know the rules.

[tornado]

Rules are rules, but I fully expect there were others who played the tourney who MUST HAVE at least once made the same mistake and were not noticed by an official.
But it is the official's job to see the violations and make the calls......

[Out of Balance]

To me as a golfer and knowing golf is full of rules and yes some are petty but they are rules, he should have and his caddy certainly should have, realized there were over 1200 "bunks" on that course. Every single group has a rules official, they needed to call one over and ask is this in a bunker.

Never assume especially on that course that a ball is just in a dry spot.

Terrible situation but its on him to know the rules.

I know there were 1200 bunkers, but why were the fans allowed in them and then allowed to stay in them while Dustin hit Some of these were so small, undetectable and not on the scorecard, "Like the on Dustin hit out of". One would think there would of been a better effort by the Official's to el imitate some or control the crowd, so the crowds did not trample them to the point of being unrecognizable My is how did the officials know this was a bunker If they were not on the scorecard then would it not be a officials duty to tell the player. if not whats to keep any official from saying its a bunker when it may not be Bad crowd control, Bad Official's Call " with so much at stack" and a very Bad break for Dustin and the Fans
My opinion

[real fan]

I know there were 1200 bunkers, but why were the fans allowed in them and then allowed to stay in them while Dustin hit Some of these were so small, undetectable and not on the scorecard, "Like the on Dustin hit out of". One would think there would of been a better effort by the Official's to el imitate some or control the crowd, so the crowds did not trample them to the point of being unrecognizable My is how did the officials know this was a bunker If they were not on the scorecard then would it not be a officials duty to tell the player. if not whats to keep any official from saying its a bunker when it may not be Bad crowd control, Bad Official's Call " with so much at stack" and a very Bad break for Dustin and the Fans
My opinion

I agree about the crowd should not be walking thru any bunkers on the course, I play a lot of golf and this along with having to play out of a divot in the fairway are just a couple of bad rules, the mistake he made was not reading the flier that was posted about these bunkers, it ruined a great tournament for most of the fans.

[houstontxbrave]

I know there were 1200 bunkers, but why were the fans allowed in them and then allowed to stay in them while Dustin hit Some of these were so small, undetectable and not on the scorecard, "Like the on Dustin hit out of". One would think there would of been a better effort by the Official's to el imitate some or control the crowd, so the crowds did not trample them to the point of being unrecognizable My is how did the officials know this was a bunker If they were not on the scorecard then would it not be a officials duty to tell the player. if not whats to keep any official from saying its a bunker when it may not be Bad crowd control, Bad Official's Call " with so much at stack" and a very Bad break for Dustin and the Fans
My opinion

I would guess that with the number of "bunkers" on the course, there probably is not anywhere else for the fans to stand.

I think it is horrible what happened to Johnson, but it is his respondsiblity to read and understand the rules. If there is absolutely any question about a lie and whether it is possibly in a bunker, he must ask a rules official for a ruling. If he takes it upon himself to assume that the ball is lieing in dirt or a trampled area well he is certainly taking a chance.

I am certain there were more then a few players throughout the week who played out of a bunker and grounded their club, but they did not do this on the 72nd hole with a chance to win the tournament on National TV with everyone watching.

I agree it is bad crowd control, but crowd control at Whistling Straghts probably would lead to eliminating many paying customers... where have we heard that one at before

But I do not think it was a bad decision by the rules official. He grounded his club twice in a bunker and grounding your club in a bunker is a one shot penalty per grounding. It is not the rules officials job to decide if it is a bad situation or bad crowd control, he is respondsible for the determination if a rule was violated. I think he interpreted the rule correctly and Johnson was wrong for not asking.

[TNel]

Bunkers

The flyers they gave all the players clearly covered this situation. They even posted them on the mirrors in the locker room. Dustin screwed up royally, but I lay equal blame on his caddie. These guys make a pretty good living for handling the details (yardage, club selection, helping read greens, etc.) so their players can concentrate on one thing ... hitting the shots.

[houstontxbrave]

The flyers they gave all the players clearly covered this situation. They even posted them on the mirrors in the locker room. Dustin screwed up royally, but I lay equal blame on his caddie. These guys make a pretty good living for handling the details (yardage, club selection, helping read greens, etc.) so their players can concentrate on one thing ... hitting the shots.

And I think this is why the Caddie did not want to comment after the round. It is his fault. There are so many bunkers on this course, anytime his player went anywhere near a color not green the caddie should be telling his player we need to get a ruling.

There are to many eyes watching shots for someone to not ask questions on anything questionable.

[Air Petey]

And I think this is why the Caddie did not want to comment after the round. It is his fault. There are so many bunkers on this course, anytime his player went anywhere near a color not green the caddie should be telling his player we need to get a ruling.

There are to many eyes watching shots for someone to not ask questions on anything questionable.

It is not caddies fault..... Player's responsibility 100%.
He needs to know the local rules and notice to competitor sheet before he plays. It was posted in the locker room (where caddies are not allowed). He needs to look in the mirror for who is at fault.

Side note - I have heard many times today "That is not fair." Really it is very fair. Unfair would be a "no penalty" when the rest of the field was playing under the rules that did not allow grounded a club in a hazard.

Hope everybody is having a great summer...... GO BRAVES!

[OrangeandBlack74]

I was there on Friday, and was standing at or near where this infraction occurred. There are many of these little "bunkers" all over the course (not just on the 18th hole), and most of them don't even come into play, so the crowd just walks through them and stands in them when watching the action. I can understand how a player could interpret the situation that way. However, there was no excuse for him or his caddy to not know the local rules.

[dogsrus]

I agree HIS fault and partially his caddies fault...they are a team. Easy fix IF they want to IMO.....declare the bunkers to be only the ones inside of the ropes.

But even if they don't want to "fix it"......as a player you just have to know the rules.

Its a unique course and that whats makes it special but having fans walk in those bunkers is a special circumstance you don't see too many other places.

At the very least could he not have asked for relief do to foot prints from the crowd...... ?

[bigjimmy]

I played this course and I certainly found my share of the thousands of bunkers throughout the 18 holes. There's no question that since the PGA of America allowed spectators into certain spots that had these little pot bunkers that they should have been marked as waste areas which would have allowed Johnson or any one else to ground their club. Why have the spectator ropes up if that's not the case. Having said that the PGA did declare all of the bunker bunkers and every player and his caddie were told this before hand. Also Johnson only hit 5 fairways all day with his driver and he hits it far enough that 3 wood would have been fine. It's a shame that it happened and I hope that he doesn't let that define his career. He hits the ball a long way and has really good touch around the greens. He has the game to win mulitple majors. It remains to be seen if he has the mental makeup to come back from this.

[TNel]

Bunkers

I've played it a couple of times, too, and as far as I'm concerned, aside from the tees, fairways, greens and lake, the whole course is one big bunker!

[houstontxbrave]

It is not caddies fault..... Player's responsibility 100%.
He needs to know the local rules and notice to competitor sheet before he plays. It was posted in the locker room (where caddies are not allowed). He needs to look in the mirror for who is at fault.

Side note - I have heard many times today "That is not fair." Really it is very fair. Unfair would be a "no penalty" when the rest of the field was playing under the rules that did not allow grounded a club in a hazard.

Hope everybody is having a great summer...... GO BRAVES!

Wrong its the caddies fault, the players job is to hit the ball and score. It is the caddies respondsibilty to do everything else, including think for his player. The caddie is supposed to understand the entire course and that includes the rules for the layout of the course.

Just because the rules were also posted in the locker room does not mean that the caddie is not respondsible for that knowledge. His job is to do everything possible to take away from his player other then swinging the club.

[dogsrus]

Wrong its the caddies fault, the players job is to hit the ball and score. It is the caddies respondsibilty to do everything else, including think for his player. The caddie is supposed to understand the entire course and that includes the rules for the layout of the course.

Just because the rules were also posted in the locker room does not mean that the caddie is not respondsible for that knowledge. His job is to do everything possible to take away from his player other then swinging the club.

I'd have to side with Petey on this one....knowing his background he would be considered our expert when it comes to golf, rules and protocol. I'll leave it at that.

Each golfer is ultimatley responsible for everything that goes on during a round. Any golfer that would stake his tournament life on the back of a caddie would be foolish.