The 2010 PGA Championship will forever be remembered as “the year of the ‘bunker’”. In 10 years when people look back at this Championship, they won’t remember that it was Martin Kaymer’s first major (let alone first PGA win). They won’t remember that Tiger came in 28th place, or Nick Watney’s colossal Sunday collapse. All that will be remembered is how Dustin Johnson ground his club in a “bunker” and it may have cost him a major championship.
While watching the live telecast, I have to admit when I saw him ground his club I was a bit surprised. I thought to myself, “hmmph, I guess that’s not a bunker.” After all, spectators had been standing in it only a few minutes before Johnson hit that mamoth block shot. Which said to me that it was mostly likely a worn out area of grass or ground under repair. Little did I know that officials had posted notices all over the place alerting players that every piece of sand should be considered a bunker and played as such.
On the 72nd hole, with a one stroke lead in a major championship, you could argue that Dustin Johnson should have been more careful. You could also argue that he was so focused on the shot at hand, and that considering the look of the “bunker” that the thought never crossed his mind that he was in one. Regardless of which you side with, I think the fault of this falls largely on Johnson’s caddy. His caddy obviously saw where the ball lied, and even if his player had ignored all the postings from the officials throughout the week, the caddy should have had the memo memorized. The rules official is partly to blame here as well. In the final few pairings of the day, each group had their own rules official following them. If there was ever a question, it’s up to the rules official to point out before the player plays his shot to alert him that he’s in a hazard. When asked about this, the rules official assigned to Johnson’s group said he couldn’t get to him in time because of the crowds. Suuuuuure, because Johnson basically ran to his ball and addressed it and hit it without any delay??
I’m certainly not saying Johnson is not to blame for the bonehead move, but even with me watching from home, I had the inkling to think “hmmmph, he grounded his club… I guess he must not be in a bunker.” But there are two other parties to blame here as well.
While listening to my local sports talk radio show this morning, Brad Faxon was a call in guest. He stated that these “bunkers” were all over the place and more than likely dozens of players were in them throughout the week and grounded their club. The only difference was that it wasn’t on the 72nd hole with a 1-stroke lead and millions of people and cameras all around them.
When the ruling came down I seriously felt sick to my stomach for Johnson. He had the U.S. Open in his hands earlier this year, and now this. He needs to have serious props given to him for not letting what happened at Pebble effect him and putting himself in position to win another major. One can only hope that this doesn’t prove to be detrimental to his career. Missteps like these can ruin a player mentally, and if he had actually made that putt on 18 you could see how. But from what has been said about Dustin Johnson, this doesn’t seem likely.
Dustin Johnson so far has had an amazing year. While looking at the leaderboard on Sunday I started to get the feeling that a bit of a changing of the guard is beginning to take shape. We didn’t see a leaderboard littered with names like Woods, Mickelson, Els, Singh, and Westwood. But instead players either barely in their 20′s or even barely in their 30′s. Names by the likes of McIlroy, Johnson, Kaymer, and Watson. These guys are exciting to watch, and I think golf will safely be in their hands for some time to come.
About Jeff Palopoli
Web marketer, father, husband, and golf blogger continually searching for the golf game I used to have.
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