OAKMONT, Pa. — Rules are rules and we get that. And the beauty of golf, unlike most every other sport, is players almost always call penalties on themselves even when no one is watching. Try to cheat and you’re lower than pond scum.
But what should have been a magical final round in the 116th U.S. Open was marred when the USGA didn’t have the guts to make a call whether Dustin Johnson had committed a violation on the fifth hole Sunday at Oakmont Country Club. Instead the USGA waited until Johnson took them off the hook with what should have been a four-stroke victory and then snuck in a one-shot penalty that was rendered meaningless thanks to Johnson, who played brilliant golf down the stretch given the circumstances and captured his first major championship.
Shame on the USGA.
The uncertainty of whether Johnson would be penalized one stroke for causing his ball to move before a short par putt created a black cloud that wasn’t lifted until Johnson punctuated his first major championship with a birdie on the 18th hole. Whether his winning score was 5-under or 4-under didn’t matter. The U.S. Open trophy was his. But it should never have come to that.
Whether or not he was in error, Johnson deserved a better fate than what he got from the USGA. So did his competitors, and so did millions of viewers glued to FOX television. How can you watch a sporting event when you don’t know what the score is?
Johnson, who has been burned by rules before (see 2010 PGA Championship), did the proper thing on the fifth hole, backing off a short putt for par after a couple of practice strokes when he saw the ball move backward. He immediately called in the rules official who was following the group, Mark Newell, who initially deemed Johnson had not caused the ball to move. Johnson went on to make what everyone believed to be par to stay at 4-under, one-stroke behind Shane Lowry of Ireland at the time.
But as Johnson was on the 12th tee with a two-stroke lead, Newell and Jeff Hall, the director of rules for the USGA, informed Johnson they would take another look at what happened on the fifth green and make a decision AFTER the round.
“After looking at the video, the action he took may have caused the ball to move,” Hall told FOX.
It was clear those in the stiff white shirts had already made up their minds, but were too gutless to make a call. It meant the rest of the back nine was played under the uncertainty of what Johnson’s score actually was, not to mention the mental strain of having to play with that weighing on his mind while trying to manage a difficult golf course under the pressure of trying to win his first major championship.
The USGA should be grateful Lowry tanked down the stretch, blowing the four-shot lead he had entering the final round by shooting a 6-over 76. It also should thank Johnson who shot even par on the back nine to close out the tournament and secure his trophy.
“I’m glad it didn’t matter because that would have been bad,” Johnson said of the penalty.
Jordon Spieth, Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler hammered the USGA on Twitter.
Spieth tweeted: “Lemme get this straight.. DJ doesn’t address it. It’s ruled that he didn’t cause it to move. Now you tell him he may have? Now? This a joke?”
McIlroy added: “This is ridiculous… No penalty whatsoever for DJ. Let the guy play without this crap in his head. Amateur hour from @USGA”
And Fowler offered: “The fact that the@usga thinks that DJ caused the ball to move is completely ridiculous! Laughable!”
Some athletes will tell you, “ball don’t lie.” That seemed to be the case when Johnson’s second shot on the 18th might have been his best of the tournament, landing 3 feet from the cup. He drained it for birdie.
But how fair was it for Johnson to have to play his final seven holes with that nonsense hanging over his head? How fair was it to all of us?
Ridiculous.