Running 2010 PGA Thread

Even if Johnson had memorized the local rule, what would he have done differently? He said repeatedly that it never even crossed his mind that he was in a bunker. He was in a spectator area that had been trampled down, was flat and certainly didn't have any obvious lip between his ball and the hole.

The PGA can't even figure out how many bunkers are on the course, so they can't defend themselves by saying the players should be able to tell what is a bunker and what is a trampled area. It was a joke of a ruling.

 

Johnson could not see much of the ground in question, as people were still standing on it. But I have seen many players ask officials for a ruling just to gain time to think over a big shot, and was, before the controversy, wondering if he might not have wanted to do that. Surely there are about 80 relevant rules governing hitting out of a gallery area.
PS: Remember the time the crowd at Phoenix moved a boulder that was in Tiger's line? That was perfectly legal, Johnson broke a rule. I believe the rules do not adequately account for the fact golf is not just a recreational sport, but a spectator sport, too.

 

Too many of golf's rules are arcane and archaic but the Pompous Golf Association is more concerned with its tradition and outdated concept of being a gentlemen's game to even think about whether it was fair to Johnson.

 

Thought that was wrong too. I'm pretty sure Zach Johnson use a wedge on the 18th green yesterday.

 

The 6th green at Riviera Country Club has a sand trap right in the center of the green; looks like a big fire pit.
If they land on the wrong side of the green, pros can chip over the bunker. But they frown on the amateurs trying it.

 

Since just about everywhere at Whistling Straits seems to be in play, why not stake out chunks of the course to be designated as "waste" areas? Or have they tried that already.

It would be a unique situation, sure... but I can't recall of another course on tour or in the major championship rotation that presents the problems that Whistling Straits does.

 

When TPC Sawgrass, another Dye course, was young, open to play on a (really cheap) mutual arrangement with the other golf resorts and private clubs in the area, as Dye and Co. were tweaking it for tournament play, half the damn course was a waste area. All those spectator mounds and tiered seating areas were bulldozed sand mounds, some six feet high. Tough to play from.
Your idea is a sensible one. If you are going to let spectators affect hazards and bunkers, there have to be course rules addressing that.
It's the golfer's duty to know the rules. It's the tournament's duty to make the rules as sensible and fair as possible. Both Johnson and the PGA failed.

 

From ESPN: David Price had a sinking feeling as he watched Dustin Johnson stroke his final putt in Sunday's final round of the PGA Championship.
Price, the head golf professional at Bent Tree Country Club in Dallas and the rules official walking with the final group on Sunday at Whistling Straits, told ESPNDallas.com via cell phone on Monday that he had just received a call over his radio from another rules official watching the broadcast on television.

 

Further proof that this was a bullshit call. A guy watching TV should not be able to affect the outcome the outcome of a major championship.

 

When I watched this mess, and the process for determining where Watson was going to hit after landing in the water, it seemed as though there were too many people not swinging clubs who were involved in determining the outcome.

 

I suggested an extra official be hired by baseball for reviews of close plays. Not that a guy who's done working for the day and watching an over-the-air TV start calling balls and striokes remotely, which is what this is.