Dustin’s penalty was totally wrong
‘HAVE you calmed down yet?’ a man from the office asked yesterday. Like everyone else involved in the game who doesn’t work for the United States Golf Association, the candid answer would be no. ‘For the good of the game,’ is the slogan which the USGA are supposed to adhere to and by that standard, the only possible conclusion to be drawn from the scandalous events at the US Open is they are unfit for purpose. The set-up at Oakmont — which was the prime reason rounds took forever — was bad for the game, as was the course at Chambers Bay last year. But what happened with Dustin Johnson during the final round went way beyond that. Even people who don’t like golf still admire the fact it’s a sport played with transparent honesty. So when Johnson called in a referee after his ball moved a fraction on the fifth green and insisted his actions hadn’t caused the ball to move — a view backed up by his playing partner, Lee Westwood — that should have been that, with no one-stroke penalty. For Johnson to then be told on the 12th hole that video evidence would need to be reviewed at the end is wrong on so many levels it’s difficult to know where to start. How can you play the final holes of a major where no-one knows where they stand? And when you see the video evidence, no wonder the entire game was left incensed. ‘It’s clear Dustin’s actions caused the ball to move,’ said the USGA’s executive director, Mike Davis. Well, it wasn’t clear to me. It wasn’t clear to all the star players watching on television who took to Twitter to voice their outrage. It wasn’t clear to the spectators who heard the news through social media and started booing at the presentation ceremony. In fact, it wasn’t clear to anyone outside the USGA. But still they pressed ahead with a one-shot penalty. Imagine if that had changed the outcome? Imagine a major being decided in a video room by a USGA jobsworth coming to a highly subjective verdict? And where does this leave us, going forward? Quite honestly, the USGA owe not only Johnson a full apology but the game whose interests they are supposed to serve. They need to make clear this will not happen again. Until they do, they are unfit for purpose.