WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?

By Snyper on 8/16/10

Matt is an opinionated* golf enthusiast from Pennsylvania. He coaches at the high school level, molding the minds and swings of our next generation. His column will appear each Monday on ClubSG. Feel free to chime in with your thoughts and opinions of Matt in the comments. Don't hold back- because Matt won't.

The PGA Championship proved to be another great week of golf and for the PGA Tour. Unfortunately, the rules committee did their best to ruin, or at least taint, the finish forever. For any of you who may have missed it, Dustin Johnson made two great birdies on 16 and 17 to take the lead on the final day. Then, on 18, he made what he thought was a bogie, which landed him in a 3-way tie with Martin Kaymer and Bubba Watson. But, thanks to an absolutely stupid rules decision, Johnson was penalized two strokes for grounding his club in a bunker on 18. That penalty meant that he went from a chance to win in the playoff to a tie for 5th place. Unbelievable.


Now, lets get to the reason that this situation ever happened. Whistling Straits has somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,200 bunkers. Many of those bunkers are located in areas of the course that fans are permitted to walk and stand to watch the tournament. The PGA Rules Committee addressed these bunkers that are located "outside the ropes" and it was determined by them that all areas that were designed and built as bunkers would be played as hazards. That meant that players had to address these sand traps with the same approach as a normal bunker on any golf course. The only exception was that a local rule was instated allowing players to remove stones from these bunkers. The players were all notified of this decision in a bulletin that was issued before the tournament began.

Ok, they let the players know ahead of time via a bulletin. Fair enough, I guess. But, why in the world would you force players to play out of bunkers that the gallery is walking through and that equipment is being driven through as if they were a typical sand bunker/hazard? These bunkers are the very definition of waste bunkers! They were being used as a part of walkways and cart paths. How simple would it have been to state that all sandy areas, outside the ropes, were to be played as waste bunkers? This would allow players to play a lie in these random sandy areas as if it were a lie in the rough. After all, did you see the “bunker” he was in? It was a joke! It was a trampled down sandy patch of ground. It didn't look like any bunker that I have ever seen on a golf course. And, apparently, Dustin Johnson felt the same way. It never crossed his mind that he was in a sand trap, because he wasn't!

Anybody who has ever watched a PGA Tour event has seen the precision and care that is given to the bunkers at every course on Tour. They are perfectly raked and manicured. However, this week, the PGA Rules Committee decided that it would be fun to have people walk around and drive carts through the bunkers. Are you kidding me!? What logic is there behind that decision? How does that do anything except create countless possible problems for the players and officials? You just call them waste bunkers and the story is over! Dustin Johnson finishes with a bogie and goes into a 3-way playoff. Whoever wins is known for winning a major in the most clutch of all situations and golf fans everywhere celebrate an awesome tournament finish. Instead, few will remember the winner and Johnson will be remembered for losing a shot at a major championship title on a technicality. Good job PGA! You really got it right on this decision. The only thing that they have to be thankful for is that Johnson didn’t make his par putt on 18. If that putt had gone in, the place would have gone crazy and he would have been celebrating his first major championship only to have it all ripped away from him. That would have been an absolute travesty and the PGA Tour would have looked even more irresponsible than they already do.

I was once told that out of all bad, there is some good. In this case, the good that resulted from this monumental blunder in judgment was the class that Dustin Johnson displayed in such a brutal moment. Not only did he agree to do an interview only minutes after all this had happened, he never even complained about the decision. He had nothing but good things to say! He referred to the situation as an “unfortunate incident” and focused on the fact that he had played really well and that he was happy with his game. In fact, he even blamed himself and commented that he should have looked at the rules sheet a little harder. True as that may have been, it took a lot of class to accept that as his mistake so soon after it had happened. I can only imagine the emotions that he was feeling at that point in time, but he didn’t blame anyone other than himself. That was very classy and great to see from such a young player.


So, since he didn’t do it, I figured that I would blame the true culprit in this injustice. I hope the Rules Committee does a little more thinking before they create any more "traps" for players to fall into. Call them what they are, waste bunkers, and let us enjoy the thrill of a 3-way playoff to crown a champion! Otherwise, keep the fans, golf carts, and maintenance vehicles out of them! It doesn’t seem like that crazy of a request, does it?

* Matt's views and opinions are his own do not necessarily reflect those of SkyGolf.

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