Despite USGA’s Best Effort, Dustin Johnson Finally Gets His Major
- Dan Hauser
- 20 Jun, 2016
It’s no secret Dustin Johnson has had his share of mishaps in major championships. Famously, there was the grounding of the club incident at the 2010 PGA Championship at Whistling Straights where Johnson grounded his club in what was a bunker and was assessed a two stroke penalty, ultimately keeping him out of a spot in a playoff and a chance at the title. There have been countless weekends at majors where he has fallen apart and faded coming down the stretch. Up to this point, all the bad luck that DJ had encountered was of his own accord.
Sunday was a different story.
This time, someone other than him was trying to keep him from yet another major trophy, and it was his brilliance and composure down the stretch that allowed him to finally feel what it’s like to be a major winner.
Before we go any further, a recap of the events that took place.
After missing a birdie putt on the fifth hole at Oakmont Country Club on Sunday, Johnson had about a five foot putt left to save par. He made two practice putts next to the ball before starting to line his putter up behind the ball. As he started to line his putter up behind the ball, the ball moved about a half a rotation backward. Johnson immediately stepped away from the ball and called in his caddie, playing partner Lee Westwood and the rules official walking with the group. After a short deliberation, it was deemed that Johnson did not ground his putter before the ball moved, meaning he could go on without any penalty. He made his par putt and moved on.
At this point everything seemed normal as Dustin continued to chase down current leader Shane Lowry, but about the time Johnson hit the ninth hole there was rumblings amongst the USGA rules officials. Jeff Hall and Thomas Pagel, two of the highers up in the USGA’s rules department were made aware of the incident at the fifth and proceeded to look over the video to see if an infraction had in fact occurred. They deemed that, while they thought that Johnson had caused his ball to move, they wanted to discuss it further after the round. Hall approached Dustin on the 12th tee box and informed him that there was a chance he might be assessed a one stroke penalty but it would occur AFTER the round was over. After. At this point Johnson had a one stroke lead, at least so he and all of us thought, and still had 7 holes left to play. That’s like at the Super Bowl this past season, the ref walking up to Payton Manning at the half and telling him that he wasn’t sure if the field goal Denver kicked a few minutes earlier counted and that they would review it after the game.
For what it’s worth Johnson seemed unfazed by the whole mess, which is more than I can say for fans, fellow media members, and both current and former players both on social media and on the broadcast. He stepped up to the tee at 12 and tattooed his drive over 350 yards into the fairway. He continued to play steady down the stretch while others around him continued to falter (you would think it would have been the other way around). On the 18th hole, he jarred a birdie putt for a four shot win. It ended up being a three shot win because the USGA hit him with the penalty but in the end, it didn’t matter. The guy, who everyone thought didn’t have it in him to close a major down the stretch and who stood on the 18th green Sunday at Chambers Bay one year ago needed a putt to win and two putts for a playoff before three putting to a loss, finally had his major DESPITE the USGA’s best attempts to keep it away from him.
The two USGA members, Hall and Pagel, were grilled for hours on TV after. They were asked numerous questions by Shane Bacon at Fox and were absolutely taken to task by Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee on the “Live At” set. Every time, they seemed to duck and dive their way around the questions and give generic answers, hiding behind the rules of golf. USGA Mike Davis was nowhere to be found and an organization that prides itself on honesty and integrity of the game was breaking it’s own rule. By assessing Johnson with the one stroke penalty, they essentially called him a liar. They said that somehow, despite triple rolling the greens on Sunday and having them rolling at a 15 on the stimpmeter, Dustin Johnson seemed to defy the laws of physics and with his putter moving forward, managed to hit his golf ball a half a rotation BACKWARDS.
Maybe one day we will finally get a real explanation from the USGA. Maybe we won’t. But either way, Dustin Johnson left Oakmont yesterday the United States Open Champion, not with the help of the USGA, but in spite of them.
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About Dan Hauser
As an avid golfer and sports enthusiast, Dan has had a passion for sports starting at a very young age. Dan’s other passion has always been writing. Since the time he could write, he has always enjoyed sharing information with people and telling stories through writing. In middle school he combined his two loves by joining the school newspaper in the sports department.
