STRANGE FINISH AT COLONIAL…..by Mike Livingston; Co-Host, The CaddyShack Radio Show
As Jason Dufner stood on the tenth tee in the final round at the famed Colonial Country Club, one the PGA Tour’s oldest and most prestigious tour stops, he was on cruise control looking like he’d wrap-up a record month of May in fine fashion…. We talked last week about the month Dufner is having…. won twice; had a top-10 finish at The Players Championship; shot quickly up the World Golf Rankings from a respectable Top-50 all the way up to #8 and yes, he managed to fit getting married in the middle of all of that. Now he finds himself in the final group at Colonial looking for a hat trick in the month…. oh but that’s why they play four rounds….and eighteen holes.
It simply wasn’t to be this week as the normally cool, calm Dufner was uncharacteristically wild on the back nine, missing fairways and leaving the door open for former Masters Champ Zach Johnson who was looking for his first Tour win in two years. Controversy came to the tournament and should now run throughout the week with just HOW the golf tournament came to a conclusion and the continuing question of rules violations and WHO should call them. While leading by three strokes and about to putt-out on the last green, Johnson marked his ball so as to allow Dufner to putt-out and clear the way for Johnson to have center stage. However, as he did so, Johnson did not re-mark the ball in its original position having moved one club-head left to allow Dufner a clear putting path. It is therefore his responsibility to replace the mark to its original position which he did not then do before sinking his final four-foot putt to win the tournament.
Now, this became a focal point as CBS broadcaster Peter Kostis made this observation and verbalized it at the time it was happening while the players on the green did not. Thus, as the players shook hands and headed towards the tent to sign their final scorecards, Johnson was informed of his gaf and thus the two-shot penalty he had just incurred on the hole. This meant that his three-shot win had just shrunk to a one-shot win, making the subject moot in regard to the 2012 Colonial but in a broader frame, we have certainly not heard the end to this! Who should be entrusted with calling a penalty and when? had Kostis NOT made mention perhaps the violation would not have been called at the time, Johnson would have signed a scorecard indicating a par on the last hole rather than six and thus, would have possibly been disqualified altogether, shortly thereafter…..then what? Again, this lends to the ongoing questions of rules violations on the golf course….on the heels of last weekend’s Morgan Pressel situations, it seems as though something is in the air!
Hey Desert listeners……..tune-in to The CaddyShack every Saturday morning to talk golf with Roger, Earl, myself and some of the valley’s coolest celebs…..you never know who is going to pop in!!! Keep yourself in the “loop” with what’s happening locally and on all of the different tours………we’re waiting to hear from YOU so listen in, won’t you?
Mike Livingston is the Co-Host of The Caddy Shack Radio Show on KNEWS 94.3 FM on Saturday Mornings from 6:00-8:00 a.m.; Additionally, Mike is the Director of Management for Personalized Property Management Company, in Cathedral City.
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