All of these self imposed rules gods editorializing over a triviality like this is a major reason why golf is not more popular. Only in golf do you have people lobbying(all too frequently successfully) to punish a player long after the round is over. Phil did what he did. The USGA ruled. He accepted the penalty. END OF DISCUSSION. Golf should put an end to this rule by Twitter twits who have nothing better to do than look for rules violations. All of this pontificating about integrity and tradition are irrelevant when you can get disqualified because someone saw a player move the wrong pine needle on the Golf Channel replay. If you want to get upset over something, pick something important like the FBI spying on Trump.
As for the course, it looked pathetic. There were so many brown patches on the greens that the club should make the USGA pay for the repairs. They looked like greens on a poorly run public course. Sometimes the USGA gets the right balance between difficulty and playability. Usually, however, they end up with virtually impossible setups, and Shinnecock got worse as the day went on. When a player hits a great shot, but winds up fifty yards off the green with an impossible shot, then the game is not worth watching.
“When a player hits a great shot, but winds up fifty yards off the green with an impossible shot, then the game is not worth watching.”
I liked the ones where they would barely get it rolling and it would bounce up and down and back and forth and just keep on rolling!
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Agree completely. The course is a dump......... looks like they are shot on groundskeepers.
When a shot is excellently made and not only not rewarded but actually punished .......... we have a crappy, worthless Long Island travesty.
Never again ANY IMPORTANT TOURNAMENT at this CHARACTERLESS DUMP.