Bunker penalty costs Johnson dearly
by Greg Ceilley of The Review staff
HAVEN – “I guess it’s very unfortunate. I guess the only worse thing that could’ve happened is if I made that putt on the last hole. I never once thought that I was in a sand trap,” said Dustin Johnson after being penalized two strokes for grounding his club on a bunker shot outside the ropes on the final hole at the PGA Championship.
“Yeah, I just thought I was on a piece of dirt that the crowd had trampled down. Obviously, I know the Rules of Golf, and I can't ground my club in a bunker, but that was just one situation I guess. Maybe I should have looked to the rule sheet a little harder.”
The two-stroke penalty cost Johnson a spot in the playoff to decide the champion. He missed a par putt on the 18th hole that would’ve seemingly given him the victory.
Mark Wilson, the co-chairman of the PGA of America rules committee, explained the penalty ruling.
“One of the things that we tried to be very proactive about this week, because this is such a very unique and beautiful golf course, is we made it the No. 1 item on our local rules sheet simply to explain that all of the bunkers that were designed and built as sand bunkers on this golf course would be played that way,” Wilson said.
“And that might mean that many areas outside the ropes might contain many footprints, heel prints or even tire tracks from golf cars or other vehicles.
“And essentially as an admonition to the players to understand that on this unique golf course with as many as 1,200 bunkers that they needed to be careful both inside and outside the ropes,” he said.
