HONOR

Many discussions have been held regarding Dustin Johnson’s ball moving during the final round of the U.S. Open and the resulting ruling.  For those who might not remember the scenario, Dustin was on the green early in his round and prior to addressing the ball, the ball rolled backwards about a one-half of an inch.  D.J. called the walking rules official over and informed him of what happened.  The official said there was no penalty and they moved on.  A few holes later, a few officials came back onto the course to let D.J. know there was a rules violation and that they would visit after the round. Golf differs from other games in many ways.  One of the major differences is that the golfers will call rules infractions on themselves.  This doesn’t happen in any other sport.  You would never see a basketball player call a timeout to tell the official that he fouled another player.  Could you imagine a football game in which an offensive lineman would tell the referee that he held a defensive player?  Golf is an anomaly in that regards; we call penalties on ourselves.  Always have and always will, because it is a game based on the honor system.  I’m not saying that other sports don’t have honor associated with their game, but that they have a (sometimes) neutral third party calling infractions. When the USGA official asked Dustin if he made the ball move and D.J. said he didn’t, it should have been the end of the story.  Period.  There was no visible proof that he made the ball move; now the USGA officials are questioning D.J.’s honor and integrity.  In my opinion, the USGA tried to make themselves the focal point of the tournament versus the actual tournament itself. As golf teaching professionals, we lead by example for our students and members.  We play with honor and integrity.  I’m very honored to be part of a wonderful organization like the USGTF and WGTF.  Happy teaching!