Try playing the back nine of a U.S. Open with that kind of confusion.
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June 20 Dustin Johnson’s maiden major triumph at the 116th U.S. Open at Oakmont on Sunday lifted the American back into the top three of the world golf rankings for the first time since his Chambers Bay meltdown of a year ago.
First, video reviews are nothing new in golf. A rules official talked to Johnson at the time, Johnson said he didn’t make the ball move, and play continued.
On Monday, the USGA released a statement.
“Upon reflection, we regret the distraction caused by our decision to wait until the end of the round to decide on the ruling”, read a statement. “This created unnecessary ambiguity for Dustin and the other players, as well as spectators on-site, and those watching and listening on television and digital channels”.
USGA executive director Mike Davis joined GOLF Live by phone Tuesday to offer his own explanation of the freakish penalty and its enforcement during the final round.
“Still going to be doing a lot of homework over the next week or two to really know where we stand on that”, he said. Even with the penalty, he won by three shots.
You can bring up the 2010 PGA Championship and a grounded club in a disputed bunker. On this there is no debate. They have a duty to apply the rules evenly to the entire field.
He immediately called in a rules official and explained what happened; he said he did not ground his club, so the rules official told him to putt out.
Johnson alerted a rules official on the fifth hole that his ball moved as he was getting ready to putt.
The facts don’t change just because so many of his peers – Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Tiger Woods among them – took to social media to declare Johnson did not cause the ball to move.
USGA rules official and Jacksonville resident Tommy Dudley, who was on the rules staff at Oakmont, said the greens at Oakmont were so slick and fast that if there had been wind during the final round close to around 20 miles per hour, “they might have had to suspended the round”.
If only the USGA had consulted Jack before issuing a ruling.
An update on his condition is expected Wednesday but two weeks ago he said on his website: “I’m making progress, but I’m not yet ready for tournament competition”.
Dudley said Brooks Koepka, whose group he was walking with during the third round, tried for several minutes on one green to re-mark his ball near its original spot (and no closer to the hole) before it would stay.
Piercy, who got within one shot of Johnson’s lead before taking a bogey at the par three 16th, paid tribute to Johnson.
Magnificent. The clutch swing set up a closing birdie – just the second birdie of the entire round on Oakmont’s most hard hole – that made his victory official, regardless of a delayed penalty that was ultimately assessed.
Will the USGA make more mistakes? No need for any questions at all.
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Oakmont has the strongest list of U.S. Open champions, but for five of them Nicklaus included Oakmont was their first.
