Dustin Johnson trapped in costly rules violation at PGA

KOHLER, Wis. - Two months ago, Dustin Johnson took a three-shot lead into the last round of the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and shot a closing 82.

Yesterday at Whistling Straits, the 26-year-old South Carolina native stood over a 6-foot par putt on the 72nd hole of the 92nd PGA Championship that would have given him his first major title. He didn't hit it quite hard enough, and the ball slid off to the right of the cup at the very end.

That should still have left him in a three-way, three-hole playoff with Bubba Watson and Martin Kaymer.

Instead, it became a Roberto De Vicenzo moment. In 1968, he signed for an incorrect scorecard at the Masters, which prevented him from being in a two-man playoff with Bob Goalby. "What a stupid I am," he infamously proclaimed.

Now, fair or not, Johnson knows the feeling.

There are way over 1,000 sand traps on the Whistling Straits course. None of them is designated as a waste area, which means you can't ground your club in any of them. Players were reminded of the rule this week with a locker-room notice. Before Johnson hit his second shot on that final hole, he did exactly that, in what appeared to be the edge of a sand trap situated well to the right of the fairway. The penalty for such an infraction is two strokes, which knocked him down into a tie for fifth.

"I don't know if I can describe it," Johnson said in the locker room. "It never did cross my mind that I was in a sand trap. I guess it's very unfortunate. The only worse thing that could have happened is if I made that putt on the last hole . . .

"I just thought I was on a piece of dirt, that the crowd had trampled down. I looked at it a lot. It never once crossed my mind that I was in a bunker. Obviously I know the rules of golf. That was just one situation, I guess. Maybe I should have just looked at a rule sheet a little harder."

Does he think the officials made the right call?

"I don't know," he said. "If it was up to me, I wouldn't have thought I was in the bunker. But it's not up to me. It's up to the Rules Committee, so [I've] got to deal with it . . . I never denied [I grounded the club]."

It actually appeared as if Johnson might have done it more than once. The first occurred before he even addressed the ball. And he immediately stepped back as if he might have done something wrong. Then it looked as if he touched the ground again, at least once, just before he made the swing. But the most he could be penalized was two shots, regardless of how many times it happened.

By virtue of his finish, Johnson did earn one of the eight automatic spots on the U.S. Ryder Cup team.

From 233 yards out on the par-4 18th, which was playing as the toughest hole, he put it into the rough fronting the green. He then wedged out to just right of the hole. But it really didn't matter. It's just that nobody knew it yet, although a lot of folks in the media tent already had their suspicions it wasn't going to turn out well for him. For once, they were right.

"There's a lot going on," Johnson explained. "Obviously I was excited . . . Somebody had a shadow on my ball, so it was moving. That's the only reason I backed off [the first time]. I asked [playing partner] Nick [Watney]. I said, 'Did you know that?' He didn't know, either."

When asked if he felt maybe something had been stolen from him, he responded: "Maybe a little bit. But that's how it goes."