OT US Open

Submitted by lmgoblue1 on

Anybody watching? 4 holes to go, lots of intirigue and drama. Is Dustin Johnson going to be penalized 1 stroke? Is the USGA as Pathetic as the NCAA?  Not telling him until after the round? Spieth, McElroy calling out the USGA?  WTF.

 

This is great stuff. Tune in if you can.

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DRAMA!

Billy Seamonster

June 19th, 2016 at 10:11 PM ^

No actually it was communicated. There are bunkers all over the course. Just because people walk there, doesn't mean it's not a bunker. I'm not saying the rule is right, but the rule is the rule. It's not a walking path, it's a bunker that patrons were allowed to walk in (for whatever reason).

Joined: 10/19/2011

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Tater

June 20th, 2016 at 2:47 AM ^

The USGA are a bunch of wannabes who take pleasure in making the best golfers in the world suffer.  It's like when the kid everyone picked on in a small town gets a gun and a badge.  

Every player who tweeted today supported DJ.  DJ took the high road becuase it would look bad if he didn't, but a lot of high profile players had his back.  It's time for USGA "leadership" to move over and let people who actually love the game and those who play it take over.  

The conditions today were a joke.  That's why DJ's ball moved.  You can't have greens that are sloped like that cut to 14 on the fucking Stimpmeter.  Nobody on the rules committee would have broken 120 on that course today.  The game they were forced to play out there resembled golf in superficial appearance only.  

The players desereve better, the fans deserve better and the game deserves better.  Get the brooms out.

Joined: 08/13/2008

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Polyanna

June 19th, 2016 at 11:03 PM ^

arbitrary patches of dirt outside/inside/or near the rope lines should have been marked as sand traps to avoid such an issue in 2010.  The rules of golf are ridiculous.  They roll the greens until they are so slick that a small divot, wind, etc. can make your ball move without any player interaction yet a penalty stroke can be applied.  Perhaps it is time to move away from this archaic way of thinking.

Joined: 04/28/2016

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ijohnb

June 20th, 2016 at 8:09 AM ^

was in fact communicated to all of the players.  Johnson denied grounding the club afterword because he was aware that it was a penalty if he had.  I think he was just overwhelmed by the moment and was not fully considering it.  There had been a number of players that had been penalized that week for doing the same thing.  I can completely buy into it being a stupid rule with the way that sand "traps" were clearly little more than dusty patches but it was not a "notice" problem.  The players were on notice and he ever said he was after the round.

Yesterday, on the other hand was a substantial embarassment to the USGA and rose several questions as to how certain rules are enforced and how and when a penalty should be enforced.  There will be a rule change that results from yesterday, that was a bad look for a proud organization. 

Joined: 09/21/2009

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ElBictors

June 19th, 2016 at 7:12 PM ^

The Fox announcers are being a tad melodramatic about things ...it's freaking golf and Golf and golf has always taken itself far too seriously.

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VCavman24

June 19th, 2016 at 7:16 PM ^

They really should have assessed the penalty immediately if they are going to give him one. But if it's taking this long to decide, I'd say don't give it.

Joined: 01/23/2012

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Kwitch22

June 19th, 2016 at 7:31 PM ^

I drank with him once, before he was a big deal, when he was basically just Jack Buck's kid. Funny and nice guy, but Tv Joe Buck seems like an at arrogant prick. The first time I realized he changed was when Randy Moss fake mooned packers fans, the guy I drank with would have thought that was hilarious.

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Trader Jack

June 19th, 2016 at 7:28 PM ^

This is ridiculous. DJ called the head of the rules committee over, was cleared, and then 7 holes later finds out they actually might change their mind? It's impossible to tell if DJ even caused the ball to move. And even if he did, it went backwards less than an inch. Who cares?



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Joined: 04/27/2010

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Gameboy

June 19th, 2016 at 10:26 PM ^

Actually, if the ball moves like that right before the putt, it usually moves towards you because it happens when you ground your club and move the grass blades down and the ball falls towards you. This is why if you grounded your club just before, it is not even a question that it is a penalty. DJ did ground the club, just not right behind the club, but the rules committee decided since there was no wind or anything else to move the ball, he probably did. If they really wanted to be dicks about it, they could have assessed two stroke penalty for not replacing the ball to the original position before playing.

Joined: 11/28/2010

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Gameboy

June 20th, 2016 at 11:32 AM ^

Actually, that is a local rule that the committee adopted based on the situation. Let's say the video showed conclusively that DJ caused the ball to move and lied about it to the official. If that was the case, the rules committee would have certainly assessed two stroke penalty for not replacing the ball. They took a pity on him, but they didn't have to.

Joined: 11/28/2010

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UMAmaizinBlue

June 19th, 2016 at 7:35 PM ^

To me isn't the whole DJ affecting the ball drama, but rather the last round choke job that Lowry is putting together. The American in me is happy for DJ, but the Irish in me is pissed at Lowry for blowing a decent lead. Good thing it's just golf.

Joined: 09/23/2009

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ijohnb

June 20th, 2016 at 9:05 AM ^

is very likely that what was going on with Dustin Johnson and the "penalty stroke" saga was affecting him and anybody else on the course. Right when that took place and the players were made aware of it, Lowry and Sergio both started hacking, Day also shortly thereafter.  Any type of insecurity or uncertainty can have a profound result on players trying to deal with pressure golf.  The DJ thing was an oddity and unsettled everybody that was on the course.  The USGA screwed the pooch, they ruined the final round and took some of the glow off of Dustin Johnson's remarkable comeback from Chambers Bay.  Not a good Sunday from Oakmont.

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Rasmus

June 19th, 2016 at 7:44 PM ^

Traveling, so not watching and not listening to the broadcast, but this makes it seem like they have looked at it and they think he did cause the ball to move.

But he didn't think he did, and I believe golf has an honor system for that kind of thing. Right?

So if they asses the stroke, then they are saying that he either [1] was not aware he caused it to move, or [2] lied about it.

Either way, complete bullshit, because every player doesn't have a camera on him at all times like DJ does. The ruling has to be made then and there. There's no way to fairly implement reviews of the honor system. There's a lot at stake even lower down on the leaderboard. If it's an error by the official in the interpretation of the rules, then yes, that should be subject to review. But not a player's veracity or honesty.

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softshoes

June 19th, 2016 at 8:22 PM ^

He won so it doesn't matter but he caused the ball to move. It wasn't the wind. It wasn't some golf God. His practice swings around the ball disturbed the ground somehow and the ball didnt travel so much as it waggled. I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often. He won a major and he's off the snide. Your up Sergio.

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TruBluWolv55

June 19th, 2016 at 8:29 PM ^

I once saw someone stand next to his ball that was on the green near the edge of the cup. He said that by shading the grass from the sun it allowed it to "relax" and the ball fell into the hole.

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