I certainly wish you had called Faldo , Ferritiy, Finch, Kostis,and the first rules official so they could have stopped him from grounding his club......

Tried. Their lines were busy.

I don't know that an "official" was there and didn't clear the bunker of fans. There was a marshal or two (generally a volunteer whose job is mostly crowd control at a PGA tournament), but if there was an "official", I didn't hear the announcers mention it. The only official I saw was the rules chairman who met DJ as he left the 18th green. Marshals are not there to monitor or enforce the rules of golf.

I can't wait till the Masters so I can sit in the bunkers and watch since we now know that bunkers are open to walk in, stand in, and sit in while the pros are hitting. I won't have to stand in the crowds anymore! If they tell me to get out I am going to say the PGA rule is you can be in "bunkers" unless the player asks the official before every shot if his ball is in a bunker. Then the player and I will know it is a bunker.
Are you really telling me the PGA official at the scene does not enforce bunker rules unless the player asks him to?

What I'm saying is that there was a marshal or two at the scene, but no rules official. At least I didn't see one, and the announcers didn't mention one being there. The rules official made his ruling in the trailer after reviewing the tape with the offender. And, not to beat a dead horse, but the PGA rules govern the game of golf by professional golfers - not the rules of spectating. Good luck at the Masters - if you step into a bunker there, I have a feeling you'll quickly find yourself standing out Magnolia Drive with a court appearance in your future.

I'm saying the player is responsible for his actions, and if he questions something there is always a PGA official close by. They usually can easily identify a bunker. That wasn't the case over the weekend. On any normal weekend you'll see an official called in to make a determination on something that seems obvious. The players are used to asking, it's nothing new.

There was a clear exception to what the players expect, it was published, posted, handed out, etc. (What they expect is no one in bunkers, raked sand, etc. What they were told is that people would be in bunkers, there would be footprints, heel prints, and tire tracks. These bunkers were outside the ropes. Sorry, but I doubt you'll find that exception at the Masters.

:agree:

I feel bad for DJ (and after his Sunday at the US Open no less), but he and his caddy should have been aware of this rule. This rule was very different than most tournaments. This rule was so different that the players should have been suspicious of any sandy area and ASKED an official if they were unsure.

That said, IMO the USGA should have made these "out of play bunkers" waste areas; but since they did not I see no other way they could have ruled here.....

PS. Sorry for my part in hijacking the thread.

I think the reason they did not do this is because then a questionable bunker would have to have been left to the discretion of an official. Such a call then would have been controversial no matter what. That's exactly why they made the local rule that all original bunkers regardless of their condition would be treated as bunkers. That way, there was no discretion by the official. He made the only call that could be made given the local rule for the tournament.

Remember, the officials did not look at the replay to determine whether the area in question was a bunker. They looked at it to make sure DJ grounded his club. The bunker was fuzzy. The local rule was clear.

Oh yes, this was not subject of this thread, was it? Me sorry 2.

BTW, I have nothing against Dustin Johnson. I'd love to see him win some tournaments.

The announcers were dumbfounded by the call .....And the rules official made the call based on a TV picture and then met Johnson and Watney as they walked off the 18th green......and took them to the trailer to show them the tape......They never actually went to the spot of the alleged foul.....In my opinion it was strictly bush league.........

:sing:

He stepped back the first time because there was a sliver of sunlight coming through the crowd on his ball. He asked that someone step in the opening and block the sunlight which the caddy did.

Some finer points:

Rules officials can not step in to make a call like "Hey Dustin, heads up, that's a bunker". They can only rule when they see an infraction or are asked about a situation.

There was indeed a rules official with every group. In fact the rules official with DJ's group said "Is there something I can do for you Dustin?" DJ responded "Yes, please help clear the path for the shot".

Iaudit is correct about the first time he stepped in. I re watched it many times on my DVR. At first I also felt he knew he did something wrong but he was concerned with the sliver of light.

Tom Rinalidi (of Sports Illustrated) reported on the locker room at the time. He indicated that at least two finished players, watching on the television said "Oh, Oh, I don't think he knows that's a bunker!". So it wasn't something that no one knew about.

In 2004 when the PGA was last played there the bunkers outside the ropes were played as waste bunkers where you could ground your club. And there was some controversy with Stuart Appleby in a real bunker and assessed a 4 stroke penalty for moving a loose impediment and grounding his club. For this reason they decided to make the rule simple and rule that ALL bunkers on the property were in play.

The call wasn't made long after the play at 18. In fact the rules official on the side of 18 was just waiting for DJ to finish to ask him if he knew that he had incurred a 2 stroke penalty.

There was no need to go back to the spot of the foul. DJ knew that he grounded his club (twice in fact). His only chance was to rule that it wasn't a bunker since the local rule was already in place about ALL bunkers being in play.

Among golfers this isn't a controversy or even a rules question while they do feel badly for DJ. But they want that course to be marked differently next time.

NOW do I think they need to clarify this for this course when the bring back the PGA and also the Ryder cup in the near future? Yes. Anything inside the ropes is a bunker. Outside the ropes are waste bunkers. And mark any questionable ones with blue dye (they actually did this for some of the bunkers this week).

Sevvy once said that the US Ryder Cup team comprised eleven gentlemen and Paul Azinger

the one's i dislike & how about the one's i like
 

#1 is #1 (for now)....and thats Tiger.....egotistical, arrogant, crude, poor role model, and i won't go into his personal life, because thats none of my or anyone else's business

#2 is Ian Poulter....egotistical, arrogant, constant complainer

#3 is VJ....has absolutely "0" personality (not his fault i guess)....no appreciation/caring for fans (that pay a lot of his winnings)...just totally devoid of emotion

Now....to get off the negative...the PGA tour players i like:

#1 Phil "the thrill" Mickelson....great golfer....great short game....the most personable guy on tour....good family man, humble, always a positive attitude during interviews, good to/appreciates the fans, extremely fun to watch (even when he is playing poorly), with some of his creative shots, the most exciting golfer to watch....what more can you say

#2 Fred Couples....great golfer, loves the fans, always positive attitude

#3 Anthony Kim....personable, loves the fans, humble, needs to focus on his game after he recovers from his surgery and he can be really great

Actually that's not exactly correct Fumar - Maybe the CBS guys didn't know it but on the PGA network coverage on XM the hole reporter, Brian Katrek, said something like "he's landed up here near the fans in a bunker but has a clean lie". Rich Beem, also working for XM, then discussed how being in the bunker will affect his chance of getting on the green. Or something like that.

I was listening to the XM broadcast today and they say there is audio somewhere so perhaps you could find it, I couldn't locate it.

Also the CBS crew did mention that they had a pre-production meeting and were notified that this type of situation existed. So if they knew the players SHOULD have.

Still I think they should tweak a little prior to the next major there.