Dustin Johnson wins U.S. Open amid controversy

[Kilroy]

Dustin Johnson wins U.S. Open

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[Marcos]

Well done Dustin. Such a great player and humble man. USGA, you guys need to get your act together!!!

[Wilster]

What a farce !
The USGA Officials need to give themselves a good slap .
Nothing like making a great tournament into a gong show .

[Marcos]

The fans felt the same when he was interviewed on camera at the end. They boood the USGA for poorly handling the situation.

[BC MIST]

As unpopular as the ruling was, the USGA handled the situation properly. While most obviously disagree with the ruling, they applied Decision 18-2/0.5 exactly as written. The key element was the amount of time between DJ raising the putter and the ball moving. It was simultaneous hence the application of the penalty. In another similar ruling, the gap between the player soling his putter and the ball moving was roughly 5 seconds, and thus, no penalty was applied.

The decision explains it very well.

[Mr. Chi]

Great mental toughness by DJ - well done! I hope this is the first of many majors.

[jeffc]

As unpopular as the ruling was, the USGA handled the situation properly. While most obviously disagree with the ruling, they applied Decision 18-2/0.5 exactly as written. The key element was the amount of time between DJ raising the putter and the ball moving. It was simultaneous hence the application of the penalty. In another similar ruling, the gap between the player soling his putter and the ball moving was roughly 5 seconds, and thus, no penalty was applied.

The decision explains it very well.

lol..the USGA made a farce of the game yesterday. When the stars of the PGA, the Fox commentators, Jack Nicklaus himself and virtually everyone are calling out the USGA on their handling of the situation, I wouldn't say it was handled well.

[Wilster]

As unpopular as the ruling was, the USGA handled the situation properly. While most obviously disagree with the ruling, they applied Decision 18-2/0.5 exactly as written. The key element was the amount of time between DJ raising the putter and the ball moving. It was simultaneous hence the application of the penalty. In another similar ruling, the gap between the player soling his putter and the ball moving was roughly 5 seconds, and thus, no penalty was applied.

The decision explains it very well.

Whether he made the ball move or not , is a discussion for another thread,but the USGA'S handling of the situation was a joke , he had a ruling at the time , that ruling was overruled , he was approached and was told that he may be incurring a penalty , possibly ? 6 holes later , to be reviewed after the round , when he had just taken the lead .
Then the other competitors were told the same ,this was an absolute joke .
It worked out well in the end but can you imagine if he lost out by a shot ....

[SnazzyD]

The fans felt the same when he was interviewed on camera at the end. They boood the USGA for poorly handling the situation.

I think they were also booing Joe Buck for 'going there' when it should have been more about the big win and less about the controversy - he should have let it go...

It worked out well in the end but can you imagine if he lost out by a shot ....

And it's kind of a miracle that it didn't end up that way, once again for DJ. All Lowry had to do was shoot par and it would have come down to that...

[Marcos]

The ruling was o.k. Its the way they handled it. Imagine coming into the clubhouse and getting told that you have a penalty and lose the championship. My two cents is that he should have been issued a stroke penalty right then and there and not wait after the game to be told.
Not to many other pro sports do this that i am aware of.We can all agree to disagree i guess.

[BC MIST]

Whether he made the ball move or not , is a discussion for another thread,but the USGA'S handling of the situation was a joke , he had a ruling at the time , that ruling was overruled , he was approached and was told that he may be incurring a penalty , possibly ? 6 holes later , to be reviewed after the round , when he had just taken the lead .
Then the other competitors were told the same.

What you described is the proper procedure. Do you know why the initial ruling is not always final? Do you know why it took until #12 before DJ was informed about the review? Have you read the first three paragraphs and 5 bullets of Decision 18-2/0.5? Disregarding the emotions of Chamblee et al during the post round interview, the explanations of the two USGA officials about the ruling and procedure were very enlightening and did answer the above.

In the eyes of many the USGA looks bad, but the facts indicate that they do not deserve all the heat they have received. Would you have been agreeable to NOT have them apply ALL the relevant rules? Imagine if DJ won by 1 stroke and upon review, it was subsequently discovered that he did move his ball. I wonder what percentage would be happy with that?

[BC MIST]

The ruling was o.k. Its the way they handled it. Imagine coming into the clubhouse and getting told that you have a penalty and lose the championship. My two cents is that he should have been issued a stroke penalty right then and there and not wait after the game to be told.
Not to many other pro sports do this that i am aware of.We can all agree to disagree i guess.

Rulings in golf are somewhat different from those in team sports where if a ref does not call the hooking penalty, it effectively did not occur, and occasionally these non-calls CAN affect the outcome of a game. However, in golf, it is different in that it is paramount to "get it right," before the player signs his scorecard or before the close of competition. There is a decision describing what officials must do before making a final ruling in gray situations like the DJ one, and that is to gather all facts from all available sources and that obviously includes, witnesses, video replay, discussion with the player(s) and the fellow competitors, etc.. This ensures that the final outcome is as fair to the players as possible. That is what the USGA did.

[Marcos]

Rulings in golf are somewhat different from those in team sports where if a ref does not call the hooking penalty, it effectively did not occur, and occasionally these non-calls CAN affect the outcome of a game. However, in golf, it is different in that it is paramount to "get it right," before the player signs his scorecard or before the close of competition. There is a decision describing what officials must do before making a final ruling in gray situations like the DJ one, and that is to gather all facts from all available sources and that obviously includes, witnesses, video replay, discussion with the player(s) and the fellow competitors, etc.. This ensures that the final outcome is as fair to the players as possible. That is what the USGA did.

I respect your opinion my friend and wish i could see it like that but i guess the fact that i am an emotional person and only think with my heart and not my head is the reason i feel it was not handled properly.

[jimmyc]

Regardless of the rules, its the spirit in which it was handled. If they thought it required review, then review it; decide and inform him. What was to be gained letting him know that he may get a stroke later? Poorly written rule at best. Farce at worst.

[nolrac2]

It seems to me that when a rules official asks if you made the ball move and you say no then evidence to the contrary would have to be overwhelming to receive a penalty and in this case with video replay it supports the players position otherwise don't ask the player just make a decision or go to replay and make a decision.....I guess DJ lied. Also what is the USGA's point in making a course so difficult it is pure luck if you make a putt ...why don't they set it up so the winner shoots 15 over..its the same difference. So they identified the best player.......I don't think so..... but he sure deserved to win the way he drove the ball because he was 49th in putting.

[Marcos]

The fact that he called the official for an opinion speaks volumes. How many of these have gone by unnoticed?

[Wilster]

What you described is the proper procedure. Do you know why the initial ruling is not always final? Do you know why it took until #12 before DJ was informed about the review? Have you read the first three paragraphs and 5 bullets of Decision 18-2/0.5? Disregarding the emotions of Chamblee et al during the post round interview, the explanations of the two USGA officials about the ruling and procedure were very enlightening and did answer the above.

In the eyes of many the USGA looks bad, but the facts indicate that they do not deserve all the heat they have received. Would you have been agreeable to NOT have them apply ALL the relevant rules? Imagine if DJ won by 1 stroke and upon review, it was subsequently discovered that he did move his ball. I wonder what percentage would be happy with that?

I'm not too sure how it it would be discovered that he did move his ball after the fact , if he said he didn't cause the ball to move or didn't know if he did , isn't that enough ?
I get it , rules are rules , but how does this apply at the common level where there are no cameras ?
Is it just applicable to pros with tv coverage ?
Obviously not , but what I'm trying to say is , that when he first consulted a rules official , he was told one thing , and then it was changed , mid round , that affects how everyone now plays the end of the tournament , I don't think the rule was invented for that , but that's what happened .
And I turn the channel when Chambly comes on
And Fox can lose the headsets , this isn't MNF ....

[BC MIST]

I'm not too sure how it it would be discovered that he did move his ball after the fact , if he said he didn't cause the ball to move or didn't know if he did , isn't that enough ?
I get it , rules are rules , but how does this apply at the common level where there are no cameras ?
Is it just applicable to pros with tv coverage ?
Obviously not , but what I'm trying to say is , that when he first consulted a rules official , he was told one thing , and then it was changed , mid round , that affects how everyone now plays the end of the tournament , I don't think the rule was invented for that , but that's what happened .
And I turn the channel when Chambly comes on
And Fox can lose the headsets , this isn't MNF ....

If the situation arises at our level, then one rules on what is known, which may be very little, whereas at the pro level the information may be quite extensive.

He was dinged with the penalty because the ball moved at the same time as the putter was moved. 18-2/0.5

Yes, an official made an initial ruling but did that official have the right to make a final ruling? Under most circumstances a player has the right to a second opinion.

Many have objected to DJ being told on 12 that he may have incurred a penalty on 5, because it may have affected his strategy, confidence, whatever. But how would he and everyone else feel if he was not told, "won" by a stroke, hugged his wife and child on 18 and acknowledged the support from the gallery, only to be told later about the penalty?

Chamblee and Fox make even Lanny Wadkins and NBC look good.

[SnazzyD]

I think what rankles the most is how much time it took to come to this conclusion. They have cameras following the leaders on every shot, they have rules officials everywhere, yet it took them over an hour to reach a decision? How many simultaneous ruling emergencies were they dealing with that it would take that long to just say yay or nay? Getting the call right is absolutely the most important thing, but they could be doing a WAY better job in doing so in a timely manner...

[jeffc]

how can you trust an official now that they indeed made the right call? yesterday made a mockery of the game. you can disagree if you want but despite "getting it right" I hope the USGA doesn't look at this as a shining example of how to run and officiate a golf tournament. No wonder golf is on the decline.

[orangeTANG]

Great mental toughness by DJ - well done! I hope this is the first of many majors.

Absolute mental toughness. I was there when this happened, sitting at the green at 12 and let me tell you the crowd was a buzz with the news. He knew, other players knew, and 30,000 spectators knew what as going on. Mid swing in his 2nd shot on 12 Sergio hit a great bunker shot and the crowd roared right beside Dustin. He blocked his shot right. Still managed to get back on track. Next hole he hit long and it hopped in the rough behind the green next to sprinkler heads. Following that he threw his tee shot on 17 into a deep green side bunker. We couldn't even see him from other side of the green. Saved par. Split the fairway on 18 then stuck his approach 3ft for a win.

Amazing focus and something to prove. Didnt seem rattled at all for someone that lost a US Open already for a technicality.

Amazing day to be at Oakmont! Experience of a lifetime

[SnazzyD]

Wow...that would have been something to experience up close!

[orangeTANG]

Wow...that would have been something to experience up close!

Absolutely. We managed to find ourselves in what seemed right in the middle of everything. We were in the bleachers across from Sergio on 8 when he holed out from the bunker. We were at 2 green when Speith had his ball roll back to his feet, only to hit it close and make a must have par putt. Witnessed Kokrak on 2 hit his drive to the green withing 5 ft only to have it roll off. Then him chip his second again to 5ft only to have it roll off.

We walked down 18 fairway behind Lowry finishing, the fairways didn't even look real. The rough almost hid water bottles it was so long and was so thick you couldn't see the roots even pulling it apart. On our way out we got to check out #1 green. Bubba had said they were rolling 15 on Sunday. The green was rock hard and although absolutely perfect, the grass felt soft but no longer than a velour jacket.

[nolrac2]

These kind of decisions and and actions by the governing bodies of golf always make me think that at some time the PGA tour will say "who needs them they don't own golf we can govern ourselves including rules etc". Professional sports is entertainment ..CFL has different rules than NFL . both different than college..almost all professional sports have different rules than amateur sports and pro sports certainly doesn't care what some amateur body thinks is the way to play the game. Golfers are so completely their own rules official (and conscience) in so many instances that instances like DJ's are almost silly in that now some rules official is going to make a call but all the times guys are in the woods , in the rough, no one around we trust they are not cheating. Lots of so called sacrosanct traditions etc have been put to the side by professional sports who understand they are the "show" not the rules or the officials. That is why receivers can't be touched and you can basically carry a bball like a running back before dunking. The PGA tour got this rule changed because they had had enough of the "wind" providing penalty strokes when it has no reflection on their skills etc. I wonder if we are moving to a point where (given the pretty pissed off and fed up tweets by some of the PGA stars) that they simply say "we'll take it from here". Certainly will have no impact on my playing and wouldn't stop me from watching the tour or not appreciating they are still the best in the world. That call could have cost DJ $800000 and lots of endorsements etc. Since as I mentioned earlier there are so many instances when the players integrity and fair play are not being monitored it seems that if a player thinks they moved the ball and then tells his playing partner and then replaces it that is good enough (wouldn't happen in any other pro sport). Could you imagine an NHL player saying" I know I just scored a beautiful goal to give out team thewin in overtime but I was actually offside but the linesman didn't see it. so lets face off at the blueline". I know there are countless opportunities for this to be abused but that is already the case given most people ..even the pros do not play in front of camera every shot. Without the pros the US open has very little cachet and little to make it more the and the US amateur. Unfortunately most governing bodies of anything have trouble not ultimately believing it is about them not the participants in the sport and when this impacts peoples livelihood they run the risk of alienating the groups that keep them in that position. I don't think it would take long for most golfers to be saying "I play by the tour rules" and be happy doing it.

[Mr. Chi]

At least they have admitted they didn't handle it well now: http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golf...ade-big-bogey/

It's fine to uphold the rules, but I doubt anyone agrees with their indecision when informing him on the 12th hole.

[Marcos]

At least they have admitted they didn't handle it well now: http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golf...ade-big-bogey/

It's fine to uphold the rules, but I doubt anyone agrees with their indecision when informing him on the 12th hole.

Even Jack Nicholas agrees. It was not handled well.

[Big Johnny69]

This sums it up for me: http://www.golfdigest.com/story/the-...cial_facebook:

[nolrac2]

This sums it up for me: http://www.golfdigest.com/story/the-...cial_facebook:

Exactly..science will tell us that the ball is always moving on some level and that objects around the ball impact those movements all the time ...silly rule made sillier by super slow mo and in future by superduper nuclear sub atomic slomo..and remember it is always the players that protect the "integrity of the game" not some organization and that is what is special about golf. Tradition does not equate with integrity.

[sliceleft]

There are at least two questions that have to be considered separately. First, did they get the ruling right? Second, did they handle the decision properly?
The ball moved. The putter was near it. There was no other obvious cause. On balance of probabilities, DJ caused it to move. Penalty. That's the easy part.
The first ruling proved nothing, because the official had no video and had to rely on DJ's profession of innocence. As soon as the officials saw the video, they knew a penalty was called for. They did not announce it immediately because they were hoping that DJ would call it on himself, either immediately by taking the hint when they told him they were considering it, or when he saw the video at the end of the round. That's why it hung in the air for so long. They had to do that to give him the chance to do the right thing.
In some alternate universe, DJ backed away from the ball, called a penalty on himself and went on to win. In that universe the penalty is not a distraction but a crucial and beautiful part of the legend.
There is no way to avoid the odd cock-up about rules in the era of hi-def cameras.

[BC MIST]

Exactly..science will tell us that the ball is always moving on some level and that objects around the ball impact those movements all the time ...silly rule made sillier by super slow mo and in future by superduper nuclear sub atomic slomo..and remember it is always the players that protect the "integrity of the game" not some organization and that is what is special about golf. Tradition does not equate with integrity.

Rule 18-2 applies to ALL situations where the player's ball moves, not just one very isolated incident in one particular PGA tournament. The application of the rules of golf is to GET IT RIGHT, unlike the rules of other sports, so the use of high tech in Tour events helps to achieve this. This ensures that no player is either advantaged or disadvantaged, a concept that many obviously do not understand, including those who write opinion pieces.

The ruling was correct. The procedure of informing the player in the DJ kind of situation needs to be improved. To say that golf is on the decline because the game has fair and consistently enforced rules is nonsense. Besides, how many golfers make up their own rules anyway?