"Johnson ruling" brings out golf snobs

Tampa - I sit here this morning amazed that there still is mixed reaction in the inner circle of PGA Tour professionals.

Mixed reaction to the "Dustin Johnson ruling" at Whistling Straits on Sunday. A ruling that cost the 26-year old a playoff spot in the PGA Championship.

What is the controversy here? There isn't one as far as I can see. What does my opinion mean anyway. I'm only an amateur golfer who enjoys the game, and can write a book on the shoddy bunkers I've encountered.

My ball in foot prints, sand divots, or bunkers with inconsistent sand. Bunkers that don't look like bunkers, but we play them like one, each and every time.

For those of you who have been down this road, you know your reaction. It certainly isn't, "Come on, I am NOT hitting out of that footprint." "I am moving the ball."  No, we try to contain our ire, hit the shot, RACK THE BUNKER, mutter a few whispered words to our next shot, and shoot over par, every time.

Welcome to the real world of amateur golf, played by some amateurs who have little regard to a little housekeeping on the course as they shoot a bazillion and back up the course to a five and a half hour round.

All this enjoyment, and we the amateur have to pay for it, in advance.

Why do we do it? Because some of us are nuts about this game.

On Sunday, the best golfers in the world were challenged by a old links style course know as Whistling Straits. WS is one of the premier public golf courses in the country. One you and I can play, for a steep price.

Dustin Johnson paid dearly for his four days in Kohler, Wisconsin. Simply put - He thought he was hitting out of a trampled down sandy area, not a bunker. Whoops. It was a bunker. He grounded his club, assessed a two shot penalty, and goodbye to a spot in the playoff.

Johnson handled the situation very well in public. I felt bad for him, but rules are rules. You can't say the PGA of America didn't post the rules and warn players before hand.

The only problem was, Johnson, nor many others in the field, ever read those rules posting in the locker room.

Johnson just happened to hit his ball where most tournament officials never think these professionals are capable of hitting it, even on their worst day. It was an area of the course reserved for spectators, outside the ropes. They freely walked in and out of that "bunker" all week long. It was one of 1200 plus bunkers, but who's keeping count.

For those pros making fun of the ruling, posting witty comments on their little Twitter pages (Stewart Cink and some other pro I never heard of) - GIVE ME A BREAK! 

Don't be a snob.

It wasn't funny to Johnson, but it proved a point.

PGA pros are a very skillful group. They can maneuver their ball in ways we amateurs only dream. They send that little white ball distances we have a hard time relating to. They shoot over par, they get frustrated. We shoot over par, we head to the 19th hole.

We hear every week on tour how pristine the golf course is for the players. Kudos to the grounds superintendant. Kudos to the greens guy. But, the instant something is not pristine, the PGA complainers come filing out.

Give it a break. We in the amateur world don't really care that a blade of crabgrass is growing on 100-plus acres of greenery. We really don't care that the greens might be a little chippy, dried out, and hard to hold. We really don't care that a bunker, off the beaten path on the 18th hole of Whistling Straits was trampled on, and was to be played like any other bunker on the golf course.

Come on, you are the best in the world! Deal with it. Dustin Johnson is right now.

Go back to those days when you slashed your way around the public links with clover and crabgrass dominating the tees. Greens that are slow. Bunkers that are hard as rock around the green thanks to the sprinklers. Finally, you're lodged behind a group of golfers who decided they would take their yearly golf outing and land a tee time just in front of you.

Gentleman, don't blame the PGA. I can give you 1200 reasons why the PGA won't change their bunker rules at WS. Why should they? Do as we TRY to do - Don't hit it there. Moreover, be above us amateurs - know the local rules.