The USGA avoided a catastrophe, but it shouldn’t avoid our disdain.
In case you missed the end of yesterday’s U.S. Open, the thrilling win of Dustin Johnson was nearly marred by an inexplicable non-decision by the USGA that was ripped by just about every member of the golf media and a lot of the current players on tour, including Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth.
On the back 9 of Johnson’s last round, which saw him hunting down his first ever major, the USGA’s rules officials informed him that they might be assessing him a penalty for when he addressed his ball on a putt back on the fifth hole and the ball moved ever so slightly.
After initially ruling he was cool, more USGA officials apparently went and looked back at the footage and deemed that he probably did cause the ball to move. But instead of telling him that he had been assessed a stroke, the USGA told him that they’d make the decision after the round.
…Which led to Johnson playing several of the final holes having absolutely no idea if he was in the lead or not. He didn’t know what his score was. It ended up not mattering — he won by four strokes and then could afford it when the USGA did decide,…
