Excuse the hell out of me Sherlock Holmes. Im sure my avatar applies to you. Did the question come up as to whether he was up for the year or since he put what he was going to bet on here Sherlock Holmes?

Bubba didn't have to go for it. He's about the only player who manned up today and he hands the championship to the timid German who already choked in crunch time.

Too many chokers in this sport.

Bubba looked shocked when the ball hit the water, like it was impossible for him to come up short. That sucked for Dustin Johnson, since when are people allowed to stand in bunkers? Kaymer didn't choke, he made a huge put on 18 to make the playoff, and a bigger one on 17 to tie Bubba.

WTF! You mean they let him putt for a victory they knew they'd have to take away? WOW, this could have been much worse if he made that.
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that is a good point. wish he would have Happy Gilmore'd that official.

Now that the dust has settled, and we have found out the players were warned about these "bunkers" outside the ropes, it's just a shame that this had to happen to Johnson. He certainly believed he had simply hit his tee shot into the gallery, not thinking that the gallery would be standing in a bunker. Should a rules official have informed him he was in a bunker, yeah, I guess that would have helped, although I'm sure there was no obligation on their part to do so.

You're right, though this was more of an embarrassment to the pga officials than to Johnson, and since it was the last hole of a major championship they could have handled it better.

I don't understand what took so long to resolve it. Johnson knows if he grounded or not and course officials know what is and what is not a bunker. After he hit his tee shot they showed a graphic and it clearly showed it was a bunker.

it didnt even look like a bunker! looked like a very small area that had been worn down by the masses!

Seriously, can someone explain to me why "grounding" your club is even a penalty? Michelle Wie got in trouble for this last year, and it's really the dumbest rule in all of golf. What advantage could D. Johnson possibly have gained for that yesterday?

its just the rules. cant ground your club in a hazard. a sand trap is considered a hazard.

I would guess the rule is like that to penalize you for hitting a poor shot.

I get that it's the rule, but it's a completely useless rule. There are rules to keep someone from cheating and then there are rules just to have rules.

like i said, its a penalty for hitting a poor shot.

its not a big deal to follow & its not difficult to hit the shot without grounding the club.

what is useless.. is to call something that looked like a 4 foot patch of land that had been worn down by people walking a "sand trap".

Well, yes, agreed on that last point. I just think grounding a club in a hazard is a dumb rule in the first place.

they almost did the same thing with tiger on saturday or friday (dont remember which day I saw it)

He hit into the rough, and there were some worn down areas of dirt / sand.. just little 6 inch patches, grass all around it though.

The official spent 5 minutes deciding if it was in a sand trap or not. Yes a 6 inch sand trap!

Turns out they decided it was not a trap so Tiger could ground his club.

Too bad the official that was with Dustins group didnt just speak up.. or Dustin should have asked.. but I guess you have other things on your mind when you are leading the PGA championship on the 72nd hole.

If you were able to ground your club in the bunker you would be able to improve your lie.

Grounding your club in a bunker would potentially allow you the advantage of knowing how firm or soft the sand is, as well as how deep.

From an article at ESPN.com, rules official David Price knew Johnson was in a bunker when he hit his 2nd shot, he was just unaware Johnson had grounded his club.

"Price said he went up to Johnson as he was preparing to hit his second shot and asked him if he needed anything. Johnson replied that he needed the crowd moved to the right, so Price went to make sure that was being done and then waited on the fairway. He never saw Johnson ground his club.

But Price had dealt with two other questions from Johnson or his caddie about bunkers the previous few holes. On No. 14, Johnson hit into an area just past a bunker and asked if he could take some practice swings for that shot in the bunker. Since the ball wasn't in the bunker, Price told him he could. Then, on No. 16, Johnson's caddie asked if he could remove some stones near the ball. Price told him they were in a bunker and by rule they can move loose impediments as long as the golf ball doesn't move. But there was no doubt to Price that Johnson was in a bunker.

"All he had to do was ask," Price said. "He'd asked me before that. He'd been in a bunch of bunkers. You don't remind a player on every hole that you can't ground your club."

Price said the bunker on No. 18 that Johnson was in was formed like many other bunkers on the course.

"It was a rather small one, but it was an area that had been dug out and filled with sand," Price said. "The only thing that made it different than previous bunkers is that he hit the ball so far offline, it was in a bunker that had been trampled down instead of one that was finely raked. We told players on the information we gave them that all sand on the course was considered a hazard, even if there were footprints or tire marks."

my bunker routine:

open up stance, open up club face

close my eyes, swing down on it, full follow-through & pray!

Grounding your club in a bunker would potentially allow a player to improve a lie, but wouldn't ground your club, well, anywhere on the course potentially allow a player to improve a lie? Moreover, if a player is hitting the ball from, say, the fairway, and grounding their club moves the ball, isn't the player subject to a penalty anyway? It's a stupid rule.

There is nothing wrong with the rule it has been in existence forever. Knowing the depth or consistency of the sand is a huge advantage to pro golfers. The PGA erred by not considering the bunkers, outside the ropes, waste areas. That is what they did in 2004 and there were no major issues.