Dustin Johnson and Those Annoying Rules Sheets

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: August 16, 2010

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We learned at an early age in junior golf: Read The Rules Sheet.

Learned the same in high school: Read The Rules Sheet.

Learned the same thing in college golf: Read The Rules Sheet.

For a time this humble player logged as a PGA Tour caddy, circa 1981, there was one item ALWAYS in my pocket: that week's Players' Rules Sheet.

Read it, kept it, just in case. Know the quirks.

In the heat of championship golf, little things make the difference as we all learned from Bunker-Gate on Sunday.

What happened to Dustin Johnson simply shouldn't have happened.

If Johnson did not read the Players' Rules Sheet, as he admitted, then his caddy should have. As a caddy on the PGA Tour, you always have your man's back. You're there to protect him, sometimes even from himself.

Even IF the caddy didn't know, there was the walking official from the PGA of America, right down there in the fairway. Take a minute, take a deep breath, just check, don't assume. You know what they say about "assume."

Quick story:

I was Hal Sutton's caddy at the 1981 U.S. Open at Merion. As the reigning U.S. Amateur champion, he was paired with Jack Nicklaus and Hale Irwin.

During the first round, Hal hooked a tee shot badly into a lateral water hazard. He knew the rules of golf and I did too. But suddenly he was confused on how to take his drop. Just call it heat of the moment. He wanted to call a rules official.

"Hal," I told him, "it will take 15 minutes to get a rules official here. We are NOT going to hold Jack Nicklaus up for 15 minutes, put the group behind, and create a problem. Here's what we're going to do.

I looked over at Nicklaus and beckoned him. "Jack, can you come over here real quick?"

Nicklaus knew what was up and came right over.

"Jack, we need a clarification over Hal's drop here," I told him.

Nic...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Golf

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