Oakmont US Open farce and fury that enraged Rory McIlroy and fellow golf stars

Daily Record

5 days ago

Previous staging of US Open at Oakmont brought mass controversy
Dustin Johnson didn't just win the last staging of the US Open at Oakmont.
The American hero also helped spark a rule alteration in golf after an astonishing finale to the 116th edition of the Championship.
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Johnson's 2016 success was overshadowed by furious exchanges of disgust and disbelief with the likes of Rory McIlroy getting involved in the heated debate.
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The record books merely say the the former World No.1 overhauled overnight leader Shane Lowry to win by three strokes.
What they don't detail is the controversy and chaos which accompanied Johnson through his final round of the tournament and sparked outrage amongst his peers.
The chaos was sparked on his fifth green after being penalised when judged to have been responsible for moving his ball a fraction of an inch.
Johnson made two practice strokes, but, as he prepared to address the ball, it moved. He stepped away, claiming he had not addressed the ball, checked with a rules official who cleared him of infringement as did playing partner Lee Westwood, only for officials who examined video evidence to inform the eventual champion seven holes later that, actually, he may be subject to a penalty.
Sparks subsequently flew. Suddenly, no-one knew exactly where they stood in the standings. The tournament ended with no-one actually knowing Johnson's official total.
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He finished four strokes clear of the field, but after meeting USGA staff, he was told he must alter his score on the par-four fifth from a four to a five, cutting the margin of victory to three.
It was an issue which reverberated around colleagues. McIlroy called organisers 'amateur' and also said in a tweet that he would have stopped there and then at 12th and not hit another shot until the 'farce was rectified.' Jordan Spieth said the decision was 'a joke' while Rickie Fowler called the incident 'completely ridiculous' and 'laughable'.
Typically, Johnson was laid-back about it after holding the trophy as he said: 'At that point, I just thought I'd deal with it when I'm done. I tried to block it out and not let it bother me.'
A statement issued later by the USGA contained the paragraph: "Upon reflection, we regret the distraction caused by our decision to wait until the end of the round to decide on the ruling. It is normal for rulings based on video evidence to await the end of a round, when the matter can be discussed with the player before the score card is returned. While our focus on getting the ruling correct was appropriate, we created uncertainty about where players stood on the leader board after we informed Dustin on the 12th tee that his actions on the fifth green might lead to a penalty. This created unnecessary ambiguity for Dustin and the other players, as well as spectators on-site, and those watching and listening on television and digital channels."
Such was the bitter acrimony and fall-out, rules were altered six months later to avoid any similar confusing and anger-inducing situations. The USGA, in conjunction with The R&A, acted to prevent similar controversies in the future by stating that, from January 1, 2017, tournament officials at all levels could invoke a Local Rule which eliminates the penalty when a ball is accidentally moved on a putting green.