Dustin Johnson Grounds Club in Bunker

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Golfer Dustin Johnson was knocked out of the playoff at the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits after being penalized two strokes for grounding his club in a bunker.

It happened on Sunday, August 15, 2010, while Johnson was in a three-hole playoff with Martin Kaymer and Bubba Watson. On the 18th hole, Johnson grounded his club in a sand trap. In golf, grounding is defined as touching the ground with a golf club before swinging. According to the official PGA rules, a player cannot ground his club in a hazard, which includes sand traps. The issue? Johnson didn't recognize the sand trap as such - he thought "it was a piece of dirt where the crowd had trampled everything down." Nevertheless, Johnson was penalized two shots and wound up finishing the tournament in fifth place after a decision that CBSSports.com Senior Writer Steve Elling called "one of the most controversial rulings in recent major-championship history."

The rules for the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits stated that "all areas of the course that were designed and built as sand bunkers will be played as bunkers (hazards), whether or not they have been raked." The rules say this applies to bunkers positioned both inside and outside the ropes, which "will likely include numerous footprints, heel prints and tire tracks during play of the championship." Players were instructed to treat even these trampled bunkers as hazards.

Whistling Straits is known for having numerous bunkers throughout its course - more than 1200 of them, according to ''USA Today.'' After the incident, a deflated Johnson quickly left the course before the two remaining players resumed their playoff. Johnson told CBS that "If it was up to me, I wouldn't have thought I was in [a] bunker, but it's not up to me, it's up to the Rules Committee, so I've got to deal with it."

25-year-old Martin Kaymer went on to win the PGA Championship, becoming only the second German player to win a major championship. Kaymer weighed in on the Johnson controversy, telling ESPN: "It was very tough to see what is a bunker and what is not a bunker," adding, "I think it's very sad he got two penalty strokes. He played great golf. He's a very nice guy."

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Creative Commons Images used in this video:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/flash716/2579081534/
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dustin_Johnson_2008_US_Open_cropped.jpg
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Martin_Kaymer_wint_BMW_Open_2008.jpg
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MartinKaymer2.jpg
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BubbaWatsonATTNational5.jpg

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• controversial call
• grounding
• golf
• PGA championship
• Whistling Straits
• Martin Kaymer
• Bubba Watson
• sand trap
• hazzard

[Taylormade2k11]

@tigre15WI johnson didnt deserve the penalty but calling kaymer a nazi piece of shits a bit much

[micmayorga]

DJ is such a class act. gotta love him

[derekgbraun]

So there were 3 poeple in the playoff...why did he finish 5th? shouldnt he have finished 3rd?

[marcusdolby1]

I think those bunkers should have been played as through the green, like the Ocean Course. But, I also think that Dustin should have read the rules for the PGA. I did and it clearly says that all bunkers shall be played as hazards.

[tigre15WI]

I'm from Wisconsin and was there last summer. This penalty stroke was literally the biggest load of shit i've seen in all sports! Without it he had this championship hands down, but no that nazi piece of shit stole it away from him!

[sconsinboy]

its funny to hear people say theres no way to know he was in a bunker. Watch the video. its crystal clear that the ball is hit off of sand. i work as a caddie at whistling straits during the season, and have walked past that spot numerous times. it IS a bunker no doubt.

[fashioncity]

i was there. he hit that iron like 250 yards it was crazy. and then he gets penalized and im like waaaa?

[MFBueno63]

@bumblebee051985

there was no way to know he was in a bunker..when u are in the moment, u dont pay attention to shit like that.....he did not fuck up....anyone could have made the same mistake...