Golf, LIke LIfe, Just Isn't Fair
The one lesson everyone who watched yesterday's PGA Championship will walk away with is that golf isn't a fair game. If golf were fair, Dustin Johnson would have had a chance to win his first major in a playoff, instead of being penalized two strokes for grounding his club in a sandbox/bunker. If golf were fair, Bubba Watson might have completed one of the more inspirational major victories of recent memory, winning his first major while his father battles cancer and his wife just survived another cancer scare. And if golf were fair, a talented, young German (Martin Kaymer) would be celebrated today as golf's next breakout star with more potential than anyone to win multiple majors, instead of being a current-day Bob Goalby.
Bob Goalby? Even a knowledgeable golf fan might look at you with a confused face if you asked him about Bob Goalby. But, if you mentioned the name Roberto DeVicenzo and the 1968 Masters, you would hear another sorry tale about golf's fairness, or lack thereof. DeVicenzo, like Dustin Johnson, was about to go into a playoff with Bob Goalby for the championship, until he signed an incorrect scorecard and was disqualified from the playoff. Much like the situation with Dustin Johnson, DeVicenzo took full blame for his mistake with his famous quote, "What a stupid I am!" While Johnson didn't say as much yesterday, he did face his gaffe like a man and took full responsibility for the penalty on the 72nd hole. After all, even though everyone sitting at home and sitting in that "bunker" knew it wasn't a fair outcome, it was the right outcome.
It was the right outcome because golf is different from any other sport, where the rules of the game, and values like honor and integrity are more important than fairness. It wasn't fair that Dustin Johnson's drive found one of the 1,000 bunkers strewn about Whistling Straits by designer Pete Dye that happened to be filled with fans. Sure, it wasn't fair that throngs of people filled the "bunker" that Johnson's tee shot found on 18, making it impossible for Johnson to assess his surroundings accurately. Maybe it wasn't fair that Johnson's caddie and rules officials didn't do a better job of clearing the crowd and reminding Johnson he was actually in a bunker. Of course it wasn't fair that the PGA couldn't give Johnson a break in such unusual circumstances to allow him to participate in the playoff.
But, take it from someone who plays the game and played golf competitively (although small-time Ohio high school golf loosely qualifies as "competitive"), golf's very foundation is built on honesty and integrity. This isn't a sport where players get ahead by blatantly cheating through the shameful flopping that has become so popular in soccer and basketball. For generations, golfers have been calling penalties on themselves, not relying on rules officials to follow them every step of the way. Dustin Johnson admitted as much yesterday, he knew he should have looked at the rules more closely. The bunkers at Whistling Straits were a big story all week, and players and media were told each of the 1,000 or so would be played as hazards, whether they were inside the ropes, or whether little Johnny was building a sandcastle in it outside the ropes. No other major venue in the world would have fans standing in a bunker with a player as he's trying to par the last hole to win his first major. That still doesn't excuse Johnson not knowing the rules, and refusing to play it safe by not grounding his club.
Many in sports will compare Johnson's plight to Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga, who had a perfect game robbed by umpire Jim Joyce's blown call at first base for the last out of the game. Both had significant accomplishments stolen from them by a lack of fairness. And while both handled their tragic circumstances with class, the two situations should be remembered differently. Bud Selig still could have intervened and given Galarraga the perfect game since it was the last out of the game. Or better yet, he could have replay systems in place to avoid a botched call costing Galarraga a place in history. But most of all, in that situation, no rules were broken, an umpire missed a call.
Here, the officials got the call right, the rules were followed as they were laid out before the tournament. And while anyone who saw what happened at the PGA would agree it wasn't fair, they should all agree it was the right decision. So while Martin Kaymer might still live in obscurity as a first-time major winner, and Bubba Watson and Dustin Johnson have the consolation prize of making the Ryder Cup team, everyone will remember the 2010 PGA Championship for Johnson's penalty on the 72nd hole. Golf, like life, is filled with instances like yesterday, where the world just isn't fair. But, the values of integrity and honor were preserved yesterday by Dustin Johnson and the PGA, which will always be more important than fairness in the game of golf.
