What is “grounding your club” that caused Dustin Johnson’s 2-stroke penalty?

Above: Dennis Johnson points to his ball in the “bunker” at the 18th hole of the PGA Championship. Clearly his club is “grounded” at the time. Johnson later admitted he had no idea he was technically in a bunker.

26-year-old Dustin Johnson had a one-stroke lead at the PGA Championship when his tee shot on 18 landed in a sandy patch in the gallery to the right. His next shot on the 500-yard par four hole went well left of the green and the young golfer thought sinking a chipshot would give him the title or he would join Bubba Watson and Martin Kaymer in a playoff by making the subsequent putt.

But Johnson was met by a PGA official as he walked off the green and after conversing in the official’s tent for a number of minutes it was announced he had been assessed a two-stroke penalty for grounding his club in a bunker on 18! That changed his final round score from a 71 to a 73 and instead of being in a three-way playoff for the Championship he had to settle for a tie for fifth place.

A far away shot of Johnson’s lie in the gallery at 18.

Dustin Johnson later addressed the penalty saying he wasn’t really aware that he was technically in a bunker at the time he grounded his club:

Q. Well, you’re a good man for coming out of the shower and talking to me. Did you have any doubts at all that it was a bunker? I walked up there and took a look at the line and thought, wow, he’s got lucky, it’s a flat lie, no lip to speak of, no nothing, it just looks like a flat piece of sand that’s been worn out.

DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I just thought I was on a piece of dirt that the crowd had trampled down. I never thought I was in a sand trap. It never once crossed my mind that I was in a bunker. Obviously I know the Rules of Golf, and I can’t ground my club in a bunker, but that was just one situation I guess. Maybe I should have looked to the rule sheet a little harder.

So what is this controversial rule that cost Johnson a chance at winning the PGA Championship? It’s Rule 13-4 of the Rules of Golf:

Ball in Hazard; Prohibited Actions
Except as provided in the Rules, before making a stroke at a ball that is in a hazard (whether a bunker or a water hazard) or that, having been lifted from a hazard, may be dropped or placed in the hazard, the player must not:

a. Test the condition of the hazard or any similar hazard;

b. Touch the ground in the hazard or water in the water hazard with his hand or a club; or

c. Touch or move a loose impediment lying in or touching the hazard.

So basically, when taking a practice swing, or even if you’re just waiting around, your club cannot touch the ground prior to hitting the ball. This is something ingrained in golfers’ minds when playing balls in sand or water, but it can easily be forgotten if the “bunker” you are in is grassy.

Another view of Dustin Johnson’s bunker shot at the 18th hole.

The Whistling Straits golf course (at which the PGA Championship was played) had a “supplementary rules of play” (as most courses do) that addresses its notoriously vague bunkers:

1. Bunkers: 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. This will mean that many bunkers positioned outside of the ropes, as well as some areas of bunkers inside the ropes, close to the rope line, will likely include numerous footprints, heel prints and tire tracks during the play of the Championship. Such irregularities of surface are a part of the game and no free relief will be available form these conditions.

Note 1: The sand area in front, left and behind No. 5 green in the later water hazard is NOT a bunker (do not move stones).

Note 2: Where necessary, blue dots define the margin of a bunker.

Here is the official statement issued by the PGA about the penalty and Dustin Johnson being eliminated from participating in the playoff round which includes the Whistling Straits bunker rule:

Dustin Johnson was assessed a two-stroke penalty today upon the completion of the final round of the 92nd PGA Championship, for grounding his club in a bunker on the 18th hole at Whistling Straits.

The penalty dropped Johnson to a finishing score of 9-under-par 279 and he was not eligible to compete in a three-hole aggregate playoff to determine the 2010 Champion.

The following is the wording that was made available to all competitors by The PGA of America Rules Committee, as a Local Rule for the 92nd PGA Championship:

Bunkers: 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. This will mean that many bunkers positioned outside of the ropes, as well as some areas of bunkers inside the ropes, close to the rope line, will likely include numerous footprints, heel prints and tire tracks during the play of the Championship. Such irregularities of surface are a part of the game and no free relief will be available from these conditions.

And here is more of Dustin Johnson’s heartbreaking interview after hearing the bad news:

Q. Down here in the locker room with Dustin, and I’ve got to tell you, I watched you all day, you played so beautifully, you were so patient, for something like this to happen has to be the most extraordinary feeling. How can you describe it?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I don’t know if I can describe it. You know, walking up there, seeing the shot, it never once crossed my mind that I was in a sand trap. I guess it’s very unfortunate. I guess the only worse thing that could have happened is if I made that putt on the last hole. I never once thought that I was in a sand trap.

UPDATE – Here’s a video from ESPN with Johnson talking about the penalty:

Q. Well, you’re a good man for coming out of the shower and talking to me. Did you have any doubts at all that it was a bunker? I walked up there and took a look at the line and thought, wow, he’s got lucky, it’s a flat lie, no lip to speak of, no nothing, it just looks like a flat piece of sand that’s been worn out.
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I just thought I was on a piece of dirt that the crowd had trampled down. I never thought I was in a sand trap. It never once crossed my mind that I was in a bunker. Obviously I know the Rules of Golf, and I can’t ground my club in a bunker, but that was just one situation I guess. Maybe I should have looked to the rule sheet a little harder.

Q. Even if you had looked at the rule sheet, I’m not sure that you would have made any other decision. What do the officials say to you in the scoring area?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Pretty much he said that any piece of sand on the whole golf course is a bunker.

Q. Do you think that’s a good ruling? Is it the ruling they had to make?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I don’t know, 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 got to deal with it. As soon as he came up and said something to me, that I grounded my club, but I never thought I was in a bunker.

Dustin Johnson (R) of the U.S. talks with rules official David Price on the 18th green at the conclusion of regulation play during the final round of the 92nd PGA Golf Championship at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin August 15, 2010 (Photo: REUTERS/Jeff Haynes)

Q. Walking off the 18th green, a guy comes up to you and putts his arm on you and says, not so fast?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Dustin, come here, we’ve got an issue. He said, “I think you grounded your club in the bunker.”
I said, “What bunker?” But then you know we looked on the TV and I definitely grounded my club, which, I mean, I never denied.

Q. Talk about the range of emotions, putting yourself in position and to hear that news?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: There’s a lot going on. Obviously I was excited I had a putt to win, or thinking I had a putt to win, and then walking off the green and talking to the rules official, saying that I’ve got a two-shot penalty, I think I’m going into a playoff and have a two-shot penalty.

Q. Earlier in the week, were you in a similar situation off the fairway in a sandy lie like that, where you checked or thought you might be in a bunker?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: No, nothing.

Q. Did you backed away once, did you ground the club once?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: No, there was a shadow, somebody had a shadow on my ball, so it was moving. That’s the only reason I backed off.

Q. Were you aware all week that even waste areas were considered bunkers here? Should have read the sheet?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I guess, I asked Nick, I said, “Did you know that”? He didn’t know that, either. You know, I only look at it if I have a reason to, and I didn’t see I had a reason to.

Q. Do you walk away taking something out of your play, rather than walk away with —
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I mean, you know, I hit some really good shots coming down the stretch, made some birdies to get a one-shot lead going into 18. Other than the unfortunate incident on 18, I played really well all day. I’m definitely happy with my play.

Q. Do you feel like something was stolen here?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Maybe a little bit. But, you know, that’s how it goes.

All photos: REUTERS/Mathieu Belanger (unless otherwise noted)