Dustin Johnson’s Sterling Play Masked Poor Decisions by the USGA

OAKMONT, Pa. — How did the United States Golf Association get it so horribly wrong on its biggest stage?

The 116th U.S. Open was nearly marred forever by bad officiating. That happens in other sports but seldom in golf. Luckily for all involved, Johnson hit two of the most clutch shots you’ll ever see on the 72nd hole of a tournament and won the Open by four shots. Yeah, that’s right. He won by four. The USGA’s final official tally will say he won by three after it assessed him a one-shot penalty because his ball moved at address on the 5th green. But we know better. Johnson really won by four.

That questionable penalty was assessed after the official walking with Johnson and Lee Westwood initially deemed that Johnson should not be penalized. Johnson knew he didn’t make the ball move and Westwood didn’t say otherwise, either.

Two things here are unfathomable. One, it took almost two hours (and six holes of play) for the USGA to reconsider, show up at the 12th tee and inform Johnson that his 5th-green incident would be reviewed after the round. Thanks for that utterly distracting news.

How’s a guy supposed to play on? You may as well tell him, “Hey, somebody in your family has taken ill. We’ll tell you the details after the round.”

Two, the controversy cast a shadow over the entire finish. Neither Johnson nor Shane Lowry nor anyone else knew if his score was accurate.

Maybe replay works in football and baseball. Debate that among yourselves. But those sports halt the action until an outcome is determined when replay is used. In golf, the competitors played on into the unknown.

Imagine the fallout if Johnson finishes in a tie with any other player and then is informed that he lost the Open because some USGA officials didn’t believe Johnson and ruled counter to what the official who was on the spot ruled. It’s like the Internal Revenue Service telling you what you can deduct and then when you include those deductions on your income taxes, they say you’re wrong and slap a penalty on you.

The whole complicated process apparently turned Johnson into some kind of sympathetic folk hero because the fans at Oakmont Country Club were suddenly cheering Johnson on wildly over the closing holes. Johnson, who missed a PGA Championship playoff when he was assessed a penalty stroke for grounding his club in a fairway bunker on the final hole, was curiously adopted as a new fan favorite. It was weird, yes, yet it felt right.

The USGA’s method of officiating in a major championship has a major problem, pun intended, and it was exposed in a major way. There was very little support for the association’s actions from other players. Twitter may have sprained its lateral meniscus after the Fox Sports broadcast team explained what was going on.

“This is ridiculous,” tweeted Rory McIlroy. “No penalty whatsoever for D.J. Let the guy play without this crap in his head. Amateur hour from the USGA… This isn’t right for anyone on that course. If it was me, I wouldn’t hit another shot until this farce was rectified.”