DJ's Crowning Moment Amid Controversy at Oakmont

It is fast becoming a bigger part of our nature to rally together and quickly condemn any actions we consider unsavoury. Sport is no exception to this. We all want our opinions heard and validated, and we want this validation immediately. We often seek this through social media, where bandwagons can be hopped on with just one or taps of our screen. A perfect example of this quick condemnation and hyperbole was at last week's US Open, which concluded yesterday at Oakmont Country Club. Amid a nail biting final round battle, Dustin Johnson found himself enshrouded in a ruling controversy that ended up overshadowing his quite brilliant victory. The whole thing was as fascinating as it was perplexing, but flagged up a couple of key points which I think need to be mentioned.

The incident occurred on the 5th hole, where Johnson's ball ended up moving as he was about to address it. Doing the right thing, he called for a ruling there and then, claiming that he didn't cause the ball to move by grounding the club behind it. The coverage confirmed this and to my eye, the ball oscillated due to the green speeds rather than Johnson's putter. We moved on. A few holes later, a rules official confronted DJ on the tee, apparently telling him that he was to 'review some footage' after completing his round to determine whether a penalty was to be applied. Rightfully so I think, the commentary team were quick to jump on the USGA for not making an instant ruling, accusing them of throwing the whole tournament, and crucially the players, into confusion and ignorance as to where they stood. Were the chasing pack 1 back of Johnson or 2 back? Nobody knew.

As the round continued, the Sky commentators did not let up. Quickly, it was not an isolated incident, but a full blown assault on the competency of the USGA. The world's top players chimed in on twitter. Rory McIlroy claimed that he 'wouldn't hit another shot until this farce was rectified', a sentiment quickly echoed by Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth. When 3 of the top 5 players in the world are coming together to speak out against your organisation, it's probably best to act. Nevertheless, the round continued with no further announcements from the USGA. They had backed themselves into a corner that was virtually impossible to escape from unscathed.

The issue gained so much traction that even the normally level headed Ewan Murray was finding it increasingly difficult to report on the actual golf being played, repeatedly coming back to how it had 'ruined the championship'. It was at this point that I became rather annoyed by the whole thing. It seemed that the commentary team was putting politics before golf, jumping on the anti-USGA bandwagon and adding significant fuel to the fire. As much as I sympathised with the players and condemned the decision, the tournament still felt alive to me. There were still several players in with a shot of winning, and I wanted to enjoy the action as the players came down the stretch trying to win what had been a wonderful US Open. The other players in contention were far from immune from controversy however, and the commentary team continually attributed Shane Lowry's bad play to what had happened with DJ. The fact is, we don't know to what degree it affected him, or any of the players for that matter. It is all speculation. I agree that the decision was wrong, but the politics and the ranting should have been put aside until the final putt had dropped. For sure, if Dustin had lost as a result of the ruling then I might not be writing such an article, but he ended up winning comfortably.

In many ways, I actually found it fascinating to watch Johnson having to force himself through the situation and come out on top. He struck a couple of loose shots following the news, but then managed to bounce back, parring 15, 16 and 17 before his epic birdie on the last. I saw it as his coming of age moment. Ultimately it summed up what is so great about sport, the way it builds character and tests a person's will when the odds are stacked squarely against them. Golf will never be perfect, and there is certainly a debate to be had about the way the game's governing bodies should enforce the rules, but ironically it is often within this imperfection that we often see true greatness emerge.

I have very mixed feelings on both what happened and the reaction to it. The fact is that the USGA put on two of the best championships in the golfing calendar, and I don't think that they deserve the level of scorn they are receiving. By all means lets talk rationally about how they can prevent things like this from happening again, but simply hurling abuse at an organisation that involves hundreds of committed people is to devalue what really matters, the golf. I hope that Dustin's fantastic win will not be smudged too much by this, and that both the USGA and the golfing community as a whole can move on from it having learnt a lesson, whilst also being proud for hosting such a memorable championship. I for one thoroughly enjoyed it - roll on Royal Troon!