The USGA yesterday said that it "regretted creating unnecessary ambiguity" during the final round of the U.S. Open after informing Dustin Johnson it may issue him a penalty stroke when he finished playing, according to Steve DiMeglio of USA TODAY. Johnson, who ended up winning by three shots over Jim Furyk, Shane Lowry and Scott Piercy, was "penalized one stroke at the conclusion of his round when the USGA determined he caused his ball to move" while lining up a putt on the fifth hole. At the time of the infraction, Johnson "was informed there would be no penalty" (USA TODAY, 6/21). The USGA said that it "regrets the time it took for a decision to be made, but also said it believes it made the right decision." However, the USGA also stated that it "will assess our procedures for handling video review, the timing of such, and our communication with players to make sure that when confronted with such a situation again, we will have a better process" (GOLFWEEK.com, 6/20). USGA Exec Dir & CEO Mike Davis noted the organization “absolutely” would like to change how the penalty was handed out, saying the "whole episode took the focus off what was otherwise a wonderful U.S. Open.” He noted the USGA in essence put the event "almost in limbo to where the players, and in this case Dustin, didn’t know where he stood in terms of a score." Davis: "That's where, if we could do it again, we should’ve just applied the penalty.” However, he reiterated the organization stands by the penalty itself, saying, "We absolutely got that right" ("Golf Central," Golf Channel, 6/20).
DEALING WITH THE BACKLASH: ESPN.com's Bob Harig noted the way the ruling played out "consumed the final two hours of the U.S. Open and led to considerable backlash against the USGA" (ESPN.com, 6/20). Golf Channel’s Paige Mackenzie said the USGA "certainly got it wrong" in how it handled the situation, and that is what the organization has "taken responsibility for." Golf Channel's Tim Rosaforte: "I hate to see Mike Davis in a damage-control mode, especially after such a tremendous U.S. Open at Oakmont. But that's what he had to do. He had to fall on his sword in this case” ("Morning Drive," Golf Channel, 6/21). Golf Channel's Matt Adams said, “When you have the second-largest golf audience of the year watching this and you have all these casual viewers -- if we want to convert those casual viewers into players, they're going to look at this and say, ‘Well, this game is so wrapped up in their own rules, they're more worried about less than a millimeter of movement on the green than they are about a 400-yard drive’” (“Golf Central,” Golf Channel, 6/20).
JOHNSON BAILED OUT USGA: In DC, Sally Jenkins writes Johnson's play "shouldn’t overshadow the disgraceful performance of the USGA." It is "not good enough that he managed to transcend their nonsense." The USGA now "faces a reckoning with players who will demand changes." The USGA’s "pompous amateurs" turned the incident into a "nuclear incident, a toxic spill that could’ve, let’s be honest, damaged Johnson’s career not to mention his psyche for the duration" (WASHINGTON POST, 6/21). The N.Y. Daily News’ John Harper said the USGA got “lucky Johnson pulled away and everybody else fell apart.” SNY’s Sal Licata asked, “How do they get away with this nonsense -- the high and mighty USGA -- like they’re above everything else?” ("Daily News Live," SNY, 6/20). GOLFCHANNEL.com's Rex Hoggard wrote Johnson overcoming what is "widely considered a botched ruling with his stellar play ... shouldn’t absolve the USGA or temper those who should expect better from one of the game’s rule-making bodies." In theory, these are the "brightest minds in golf, and yet by many accounts they either misinterpreted or misunderstood the rule" (GOLFCHANNEL.com, 6/20). In St. Louis, Dan O'Neill writes the incident "remains hard to process," and it is "hard to accept the disaster with which the USGA flirted." The U.S. Open "might have been remembered as golf's biggest embarrassment" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 6/21). THE RINGER's Geoff Shackelford said, "Had this impacted Dustin in any way, golf was done. The black eye on golf for the next 10 years ... would have been insurmountable had he lost this tournament, so he saved (the USGA's) rear end" ("ShackHouse," THERINGER.com, 6/20).
LACK OF ASSERTIVENESS: GOLFWEEK.com's Jim McCabe noted everything about the situation "was bad for golf," as the sport "lost hugely Sunday." McCabe: "How do we defend the fact that no one knew what the score was of our national championship for the final two hours?" He wrote of the USGA, "Take charge, make a call and move on so the scoreboard is correct" (GOLFWEEK.com, 6/20). Fox' Brad Faxon asked, "What other sport would say, ‘Hey, we're going to review this three-pointer after the game to see if it actually tied or won.’ It was so ridiculous. ... You could tell that they had already made the decision they were going to penalize him. They needed to just tell him at the moment” (“Mike & Mike,” EPSN Radio, 6/21). ESPN's Michael Wilbon said, "Make up your mind! That’s like saying to a team, ‘We’re going to figure out at the end of the game whether that was a three or a two.’ ... How the game of golf can keep that method of judgment is beyond me.” ESPN's Tony Kornheiser: "You can’t let this rattle around in a contender’s head for all that many holes" ("PTI," ESPN, 6/20). In California, Larry Bohannan writes the USGA and PGA Tour "need to make the process of video reviews run smoother and not have the action float like a dark cloud over a player's head" (Palm Springs DESERT SUN, 6/21).
