After missing a birdie putt, Johnson, who led the U.S. Open for most of the afternoon, approached his ball for the short par attempt. Johnson made the putt and proceeded about the golf course.
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A rules official came in and after a brief discussion in which Johnson explained he hadn’t grounded his club when addressing his ball (playing partner Lee Westwood backed him up and so did the slow-mo replay), it was determined that he wouldn’t be assessed a penalty.
Johnson moved his club away from the ball, and the ball appeared to move very slightly, though Johnson wasn’t penalized for it at the time and it wasn’t clear that Johnson had addressed his ball or done anything worthy of a stroke being added to his score.
He informed an official he did not ground his putter and therefore there was no penalty, but on the 12 tee Johnson was told by officials that they plan to review the incident after the round.
Earlier in the round Johnson pulled his tee shot into the deep rough left of the 10 fairway, but when he arrived at his golf ball he discovered a television tower between him and the green.
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After 13 holes, Johnson (-5) was leading Shane Lowry by one shot. Prior to the change, Johnson’s situation on Sunday would have drawn a one-shot penalty. Johnson, for his part, told the officials he was convinced that he did not cause the ball to move. If he had moved the ball intentionally, he would have taken a penalty.
