Whistling Straits is full of bunkers, 967 as per Golf Digests count, yet many have tried to count the bunkers, many gave up, and no two counts have ever been the same. So defining a bunker/hazard on this crazed course isnt easy.
Dustin Johnson felt the full impact of the subjective definition of a bunker/hazard on the final hole at Whistling Straits during the PGA Championship. This is the shot that confronted Johnson after he had carved his drive right, into the gallery. An exposed dune, sand, grass trodden down by spectators. He played a solid recovery, eventually bogeying the hole to finish in a tie for the lead.
Rule officials however judged that he grounded his club in a hazard and incurred a two shot penalty knocking him out of the playoff. Johnson later said that he had no idea he was in a hazard. Which begs the question as to what is the difference between a sand trap, a waste bunker, exposed sand. This ‘hazard’ had people standing in it, the boundaries defining where it stops and the rough starts are subjective. Ive played lots of golf on Melbourne’s Mornington Peninsula, and there are plenty of lies in sandy waste areas such as this that Ive never defined as a hazard.
Rulings are rulings though and Johnson handled himself professionally. An even bigger drama was avoided though, should Johnson had finished outright winner and celebrated the win only to be told he had been penalised would have been a lot worse!
This definition is always going to be subjective, did the fact that all eyes were on him on his 72nd hole of a Major mean he was overly officiated? I bet he wasnt the only player on the weekend to ground his club in a waste area. This ‘hazard’ may not have existed earlier in the week and was created by foot traffic of the huge galleries. Golf can be a frustrating sport, the rules are meant to make it fair and less frustrating, yet something as subjective as this that leaves a pro perplexed needs to be looked at further by the R&A
Rule officials however judged that he grounded his club in a hazard and incurred a two shot penalty knocking him out of the playoff. Johnson later said that he had no idea he was in a hazard. Which begs the question as to what is the difference between a sand trap, a waste bunker, exposed sand. This ‘hazard’ had people standing in it, the boundaries defining where it stops and the rough starts are subjective. Ive played lots of golf on Melbourne’s Mornington Peninsula, and there are plenty of lies in sandy waste areas such as this that Ive never defined as a hazard.
Rulings are rulings though and Johnson handled himself professionally. An even bigger drama was avoided though, should Johnson had finished outright winner and celebrated the win only to be told he had been penalised would have been a lot worse!
This definition is always going to be subjective, did the fact that all eyes were on him on his 72nd hole of a Major mean he was overly officiated? I bet he wasnt the only player on the weekend to ground his club in a waste area. This ‘hazard’ may not have existed earlier in the week and was created by foot traffic of the huge galleries. Golf can be a frustrating sport, the rules are meant to make it fair and less frustrating, yet something as subjective as this that leaves a pro perplexed needs to be looked at further by the R&A
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét