NOTHING CONTROVERSIAL ABOUT THE RULING AT PGA CHAMPIONSHIP...

After watching the exciting finish of the PGA Championship, the first thing I read in MSN is: KAYMER WINS AFTER CONTROVERSIAL RULING"... Excuse me??? That is why I like golf: if you are good friends with Jim Remy (PGA President), G. Kohler (Club President and owner Kohler products, including odorless pee traps), or Bob Ryan (Mayor of Sheboygan, WI, the city where Whistling Straits G.C. is located); THE RULES APPLY THE SAME!. You can have dinner with them later... after you sign your correct scorecard and add the strokes.

I received three phone calls within 10 minutes, before, during and after the ruling was made. Once they mentioned that he may have grounded his club in a hazard (sand bunker), the first words out of my mouth were: all of it had to be in the "Notice to Competitors" information sheet, and it turns it was.

Rule 6-1 is very clear:  The player and his caddy are responsible for knowing The Rules..., and so is Rule 6-6b: After completion of a round, the competitor should check his score for each hole and settle any doubtful points with the committee. He must ensure that the marker or markers have signed the scorecard, sign the scorecard himself and return to the committee as soon as possible.

I've seen enough tournaments, organized enough and know the rules enough to realize that the only person who is at fault for what happened to Dustin Johnson is Dustin himself. The notice to competitors BEFORE the tournament started clearly said that all sand was to be considered a sand bunker, in other words: a hazard.

I am sure the rules official with Dustin's group was more concerned to give Dustin a line of play among the fans, than whether or not Dustin was in a hazard, which the official thought Dustin knew. It's not like the official should have said to a professional... "Hey Dustin, don't forget you are in a hazard!" It's like, "hey dummie, did you read the rules?" And if he tried, it was too late, there he is trying to move gallery while Dustin is assessing his lie, and bam!!! he touches the hazard!!! And that is the end of that.

Someone mentioned Roberto De Vicenzo (1968 Masters). It was almost the same. Then, he signed a wrong scorecard, but because he signed for a score higher than he actually shot on #17, the score stood (Rule 6d). In this case, it would have been "meaner" to allow Dustin to to sign the scorecard with a 5 on #18 and then proceed to disqualify him.

Had he signed for a score lower than he had on a hole, he would have been disqualified. And that is what the official was trying to do when he approached Dustin after the round: AVOID A DISQUALIFICATION ONCE HE WAS AWARE THAT DUSTIN MAY HAVE GROUNDED THE CLUB IN THE HAZARD.

KUDOS TO THE PGA OF AMERICA AND THE OFFICIALS!! IT WAS A TOUGH ON DUSTIN, BUT THE RULING WASN'T TOUGH. EVERYONE KNOWS THESE SIMPLE PRINCIPLES.

AND OF COURSE, CONGRATULATIONS TO MARTIN KAYMER!!!