2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont Discussion Thread

[boogielicious]

30th best putter wins the US Open. Go figure. 

[Gunther]

5 minutes ago, boogielicious said:

30th best putter wins the US Open. Go figure. 

LSW wIns.

[iacas]

7 minutes ago, boogielicious said:

30th best putter wins the US Open. Go figure. 

Through 3 rounds DJ had gained 2.3 strokes per round with his driving alone!!!

[nevets88]

Gonna see a lot of flexed wrists at the range this week 

[Hardspoon]

Just now, nevets88 said:

Gonna see a lot of flexed wrists at the range this week 

If the dudes I see at my practice range start emulating DJ's swing, they'll need to have an ambulance nearby.

[Golfingdad]

15 minutes ago, iacas said:

Maybe she'll injure herself lifting a jet ski …

That's not what happened. He saw it move. This wasn't a call-in situation or an HD situation.

But without HDTV there would have been nothing for the officials to review to bring it back up again - it would have been dead when they walked off the 5th green.

@Shindig, I believe you missed @bmartin461s contest post because he was DJ at -3 I believe.  But yeah, nobody had a lower score predicted than @phillyk that I saw.  Congrats to both (if I'm right)!!

[boogielicious]

7 minutes ago, nevets88 said:

Gonna see a lot of flexed wrists at the range this week 

Stephan has me doing this for my swing via Evolvr!

[iacas]

3 minutes ago, Golfingdad said:

But without HDTV there would have been nothing for the officials to review to bring it back up again - it would have been dead when they walked off the 5th green.

They could have reviewed it exactly the same way. The question wasn't "did the ball move"?

None of the facts were determinable only with HD.

[colin007]

If gravity did indeed cause the ball to move, how could DJ prove that? If the onus is on him to prove that he didn't cause it to move, how can he possibly do that if it truly was caused by gravity (which I do believe was the cause)?

[David in FL]

Just now, iacas said:

They could have reviewed it exactly the same way. The question wasn't "did the ball move"?

Exactly.  The only question was "was something other than DJ's action reasonably responsible for the movement".  Even DJ couldn't offer a likely possibility.

[iacas]

Just now, colin007 said:

If gravity did indeed cause the ball to move, how could DJ prove that? If the onus is on him to prove that he didn't cause it to move, how can he possibly do that if it truly was caused by gravity (which I do believe was the cause)?

It's simply the weight of evidence.

This is better than the old rule. Where if you addressed it and the wind clearly made it move you were still responsible.

[eich41]

Few thoughts

 

First, the new rule on the ball movement is dumb. It's less clear than it was before, and while I believe the intent was to allow for some leeway when a situation like that occurs, all it's done is create a HUGE gray area.  If that weren't bad enough, it's also opened it up to be interpreted by third parties who didn't witness the actual event but want to sit around a TV and try to debate the call.  What happened to being self policing?  If he didn't think he did it, then move on, unless you think he's a cheater, in which case his playing partner and rules officlal should/would have called him out.  

Secondly, if you're going to call the penalty, then call the damn thing and let the competition move along without some cloud hanging over the tournament where nobody knows what the real scores are.  

I am glad that this wasn't a tainted win for DJ.  I don't think there is a guy I've ever felt better for winning his first major.  He's always been a favorite of mine, and giving away a couple of majors and with the WS fiasco, and the way he lost some of the others like last year's US Open, I thought he may never win one. To have the whole penalty thing hanging over him and go out and blow the rest of the field out of the water made it that much better.  Really loved the birdie that was a nut kick to the USGA on the final hole.

Finally, the shit show that was the awards ceremony.  Was Diana Murphy shitfaced?  It was like she had no speech (or couldn't read the speech), was slurring her words, no train of thought, and sounded like she didn't even know the game of golf.  My wife could have done a better job off the cuff and she doesn't know much about golf, let alone the president of the USGA.  The humiliating cherry on top of an embarrassing Sunday for the USGA.  Also loved the booing of the USGA by the crowd at the ceremony.

[iacas]

 

[Missouri Swede]

8 minutes ago, colin007 said:

If gravity did indeed cause the ball to move, how could DJ prove that? If the onus is on him to prove that he didn't cause it to move, how can he possibly do that if it truly was caused by gravity (which I do believe was the cause)?

Except that gravity did not change.

The ball had been motionless. One of the things that did change was him touching the toe of his putter to the ground, just before the ball moved.

[Hardspoon]

1 minute ago, iacas said:

 

Thanks for posting.

Seems unusual (Jim Furyk) to see such a big difference between Driving and Approach.  Also - that 2.9 (Kevin Na putting) is craziness.

[alleztom]

4 minutes ago, iacas said:

 

Would SG here be slightly different - given the penal nature of the rough? Or is that taken into consideration with the rest of the field. Would there be a greater penalty for inaccurate driving (or greater reward for long accurate driving) because of the 'US Open' setup? Also DJ's T2G strokes gained are otherworldy here.

[Gunther]

This bullshit on the GC is ridiculous.  DJ did not cause that ball to move, that rule changed 2 years ago.  And, he won by 3.  Stop denigrating, he's a pro, he earned it.  And I'm glad.  

Edited June 20, 2016 by Gunther

[iacas]

6 minutes ago, eich41 said:

First, the new rule on the ball movement is dumb. It's less clear than it was before, and while I believe the intent was to allow for some leeway when a situation like that occurs, all it's done is create a HUGE gray area.

While I agree in part, I think it's better now.

Before, if you did things, you were deemed to have caused the ball to move even if you clearly didn't, because the wind made the ball move.

Now there's room to get it right.

6 minutes ago, eich41 said:

What happened to being self policing?  If he didn't think he did it, then move on, unless you think he's a cheater, in which case his playing partner and rules officlal should/would have called him out.

That's neither here nor there, because you can cause a ball to move under the rules without necessarily, say, touching the ball.

6 minutes ago, eich41 said:

Secondly, if you're going to call the penalty, then call the damn thing and let the competition move along without some cloud hanging over the tournament where nobody knows what the real scores are.

They should have done something sooner, but they generally try to get things right not to get things quickly. Sometimes those two things are in conflict with each other.

Dustin could have said at any point "explain the rule to me" and then, having been told, accepted the penalty. Or the USGA could have said "we're applying the penalty but will gladly hear your thoughts on it and discuss it after the round."

7 minutes ago, Missouri Swede said:

The ball had been motionless. One of the things that did change was him touching the toe of his putter to the ground, just before the ball moved.

Correct.

2 minutes ago, Gunther said:

This bullshit on the GC is ridiculous.  DJ did not cause that ball to move, that rule changed 2 years ago.  And, he won by 3.  Stop denigrating, he's a pro, he earned it.  And I'm glad.  

Prove it. The weight of the evidence says he did. The Rules of Golf were applied properly in this case, as they're written.

6 minutes ago, alleztom said:

Would SG here be slightly different - given the penal nature of the rough? Or is that taken into consideration with the rest of the field. Would there be a greater penalty for inaccurate driving (or greater reward for long accurate driving) because of the 'US Open' setup? Also DJ's T2G strokes gained are otherworldy here.

These are calculated week to week.

Still, they're not entirely accurate, because they only really care about lie (fairway, rough) and distance to the hole. Yet on a course as extreme as Oakmont, you can easily be closer to the hole and in a much worse spot. You'd get credit for hitting a "better" approach shot, say, and then hitting worse short game shots, but really, you put yourself in a bad position with the approach shot.