Johnson Misses Playoff After Rule Breach
Johnson Misses Playoff After Rule Breach
Johnson Misses Playoff After Rule Breach
American Dustin Johnson was inconsolable after a rule infringement cost him a spot in a playoff for the U.S. PGA Championship at Whistling Straits on Sunday.
Justin finished the tournament in a three-way tie with compatriot Bubba Watson and eventual winner Martin Kaymer of Germany at 11-under par 277 but was relegated to joint fifth after being penalised two shots for grounding his club in a bunker on the 72nd hole.
Johnson acknowledged he had grounded his club but said he didn't notice his ball was in a bunker.
"I didn't realize that I was in a sand trap," he said in a televised interview.
"I just thought I was on a piece of dirt trampled down by the crowd. "
The confusion came after Johnson's errant drive landed outside the spectator ropes on flat ground. As he approached his ball, the lip of the bunker was not immediately obvious because of the crowd gathered around him and he grounded his club before playing his next shot.
"Certainly, I know that I can't ground my club in a bunker. Maybe I should have looked to the rule sheet a little harder." he said.
It is a common rule in golf that a players will receive penalties if he grounds his club in a bunker.
In order to clarify the rules before the tournament began, organisers issued a statement making sure that every bunker, regardless of size or position, would be treated the same. The notice was posted in the players' locker room.
"All areas of the course that were designed and built as sand bunkers will be played as bunkers whether or not they have been raked," the statement said.
"Such irregularities of surface are a part of the game and no free relief will be available from these conditions."
Johnson was unconscious of his breaching the rules until Mark Wilson, co-chairman of the PGA of America rules committee, closed in on him as soon as he finished his round.
Johnson had led by one shot at the start of the 18th but made a bogey five, missing a putt that would have left him in front and was preparing for a playoff when he was called in to speak with the committee.
When news of the penalty was revealed, boos rang out around the course.
It was another great blow for Johnson, who was chasing his first major title win after spectacularly blowing a three-shot lead on the last day of this year's U.S. Open.
"If it was up to me, I wouldn't have thought I was in the bunker but it's up to the Rules Committee, so I had to handle it," Johnson said.
"We looked on the TV and I definitely grounded my club, which I never denied.
"I guess the only worse thing that could have happened is if I made that putt on the last hole.
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