What happened to Dustin Johnson was a big misfortune. And I guess no one wants to see such a ruling be decisive of the outcome of a tournamant.
Feherty tried to seed doubt as to whether those bunkers should be regarded as bunkers. That would have been nice. But also stupid. After seeing how much emphasis PGA had put on the local rules and the bunkers especially in the information handed out to the players before the tournament it would have been very unprofessional to give Dustin a relief just because he was in contention. There must have been hundreds of golf shots hit from those bunkers during the four rounds, where the subject players treated it as a real hazard. Too bad that Dustin Johnson wasn't aware that he was in a bunker, but obeying the rules is a part of the game even though it is not a core golfing skill.
PS:
Did you enjoy Brora, OB Left?
I played it two years ago and I can't wait to get back. I think James Braid has to share the glory with the almighty father on that course. Brora is perhaps the most natural beauty of a layout I've ever encountered. The cattle and sheep are btw (more or less)movable obstructions
I guess you played Royal Dornoch as well while you were "up north"?
Imagine what a non-issue this would have been had DJ hit the fairway or perhaps missed by only 20 or 30 yards right.
It's a tough but fair ruling. Too bad people want to cloud the issue of a guy hitting an absolutely horrible tee shot with all the chips on the line with "he got screwed by the rules".
There must have been hundreds of golf shots hit from those bunkers during the four rounds, where the subject players treated it as a real hazard.
That's the real question isn't it? How did other players treat this area? We'll never know how others played it because most of the 100's of other shots from this area and similar ones weren't on TV. On TV it looked a lot more like a trampled, worn sandy area than any sort of a bunker, but if you caught the computer graphic of the hole where they showed DJ's shot, the ball was being shown in a bunker.
That's the real question isn't it? How did other players treat this area? We'll never know how others played it because most of the 100's of other shots from this area and similar ones weren't on TV. On TV it looked a lot more like a trampled, worn sandy area than any sort of a bunker, but if you caught the computer graphic of the hole where they showed DJ's shot, the ball was being shown in a bunker.
Too bad he didn't just hit it straight(er).
Respectfully BamBam,
NO. It doesn't matter what other players did when not on camera. What matters when applying the rules of golf is officiating what you see, using all the resourses available to you.
Fair? No
Golf is not always fair, but we can't fault the PGA for the way the situation was handled. We are being vilified for doing the proper thing.
Kevin
__________________
I could be wrong. I have been before, and will be again.
NO. It doesn't matter what other players did when not on camera. What matters when applying the rules of golf is officiating what you see, using all the resourses available to you.
Fair? No
Golf is not always fair, but we can't fault the PGA for the way the situation was handled. We are being vilified for doing the proper thing.
Kevin
I didn't communicate clearly on my last post. It should've read "How was this particular bunker/trampled area ruled for other players that weren't on tv?". And that we may never know. You are correct; what other players do is irrelevant.
I agree with your assessment of all this 100% if that was a bunker. Based on what I saw on TV and by their definition of a bunker, I'm not convinced one way or the other. It was hard to see with all the people covering most of that ground. I've played enough golf on the dunes of Lake Michigan to know there are plenty of naturally occurring sandy areas on most lake-side/dune courses, even without thousands of people walking on the grounds.
The PGA had eyes on the ground, and they made the best call they could; I can respect that. Dustin should've hit the fairway, and given the local rule, he should've been extra cautious when he didn't.
Hybrid Mode
