The collective golf world owes U.S. Open Champion, Dustin Johnson a huge debt of gratitude. I have never found myself rooting as hard for a player to win decisively as I did for D.J. after “Penaltyshotgate” reared its ugly head with two hours left in Sunday’s final round. Fortunately, Johnson powered past the field and largely muted the issue and the accompanying social media storm.
Today, our athletic competitions exist in a culture of instant replay. I have many issues with instant replay in my sports, and most of those revolve around removing the human element of officiating from the games. But the goal of instant replay is to get the call right and move the game on, even if the process is sloppy. What the USGA did on Sunday to Johnson and the field, flies in the face of common sense and reasonable decision making. Golf is a game of personal integrity and is self-managed quite well by the players. The rules interpretation and final decision should have been rendered on the 5th hole and the issue put to bed. Perhaps this controversy will lead to some type of reform at the USGA, but for now, I’m very happy for Johnson for upholding the integrity of the competition. How do you think this should have played out?
Congrats D.J. you are a worthy champion!
All About Golf 
Brian,
Well said. I couldn’t have been pulling harder for DJ to finish at least 2 ahead of the chasers. His performance under normal circumstances was amazing, but his performance under those particular circumstances was out of this world. If that ruling would have cost DJ the title, I think the internet would have broke and the players would probably boycott the USGA and the US Open. What a bunch of turkeys! Lol
Cheers
Josh
Josh, as soon as they announced that DJ and the field were aware of the situation, it appeared many began to falter. Not saying that was the cause, but when you couple with the pressure at the conclusion of a major, it may have played a part. I’m so glad it didn’t affect the outcome more than we know.
Thanks!
Brian
Brian
I agree. The instant replay – again and again and again – has to go. I have lost and won sporting events because of the call made at the moment. Right or wrong that is part of the sporting world….unfortunately, the big money aspect of professional sports has, in the minds of some, made instant replay a necessity. Even with instant replay they still get it wrong! The official at the 5th hole made the call and rightly or wrongly that is how it should have stood.
Cheers
Jim
Jim, what instant replay does is render human officials impotent. The more you review the work of an individual, the more that individual will come to rely on the machine and the less they will rely on their own skill to do the job. It’s human nature and is clearly on display at its worst in professional football. Now it’s working its way into golf. It can be argued that the application is unfair if only applied to players in or close to the lead as DJ was. Who is watching a player at 12-over par? Nobody. Thanks for weighing in!
Brian
Brian
As always your points are very salient. I agree that not all players have the rules applied equally. Not sure there is a quick fix for that one. I guess we will take their word for it!
Cheers
Jim