PM: DQ or +2?

Who cares?
Unless you are a TMZ type person
JMO

Got to be honest here. If this had been Tiger we’d be screaming DQ.

Lefty will have to live with this being the low point of his career. As unfortunate as it is and most likely will be going forward, this pretty much sums up his frustrations with never having achieved the career grand slam.
The US Open is just his bugaboo, just like Sam Snead.

That’s probably punishment enough.

Come Monday morning, he’ll recognize that he goofed in a big way.

Phil’s action doesn’t bother me a bit. He was reacting out of frustration and not scheming to gain an advantage on the field. I doubt even Phil cares if he’s dq’ed or not. It was petty, but nothing worthy of regret.

IMO, he compounded the problem in his post round interview (took guts to even answer agreeing to it) by saying he just used the rules of golf to his advantage (paraphrased). He claims the ball would have rolled off the green and put him in a tougher position so the 2 stroke penalty was his best option. My BS detector went ballistic on that claim.

I don't think it was BS, he pretty clearly started to run to it when he realized it was going to go off, and before it went too far. Almost holed it too, that would have been replayed forever! If that's what the rules allow, he took the 2 stroke penalty, what is the problem?

Ack8236 I don't think it was BS, he pretty clearly started to run to it when he realized it was going to go off, and before it went too far. Almost holed it too, that would have been replayed forever! If that's what the rules allow, he took the 2 stroke penalty, what is the problem?

I agree 100%

Seems like a dumb move regardless of the DQ risk. He ended up with 10 on the hole. Even if the ball goes off the green he probably would have been better off.

Clearly he intentionally broke the rules and that should never be looked at as a good thing from the perspective of sportsmanship. However, given the circumstances, it also clearly wasn’t to gain a competitive advantage.

I saw the interview with the USGA after the rounds were over. Said it was never a consideration to DQ him but it was within the rules to do so.

Phil was out of it by then...has a great rep...a fun moment.

2 strokes enough.

I love Phil! REBEL

He should just wear some Loudmouth pants tomorrow,what's he got to lose!

DQ

I wouldn’t have made the decision to dq him, but It’s probably not fair from a payout perspective for any players that finish below him that he gets to continue play.

It was clearly calculated. He could've declared his next shot unplayable, gone back to the original spot where he last putted from, simply assumed a 1-shot penalty, and would've had a club-length to putt his next attempt.

He was clearly frustrated and wanted to make a statement to the USGA.

They weren't on the clock, they weren't holding up play. Phil wasn't happy with the setup, and although he has a lot of players who would support that opinion - he overstepped the line of integrity and the spirit of the game with his actions.

Had this been Pat Perez, he would've been DQ'd.

I love Phil, he's done far more good for the game than bad, but this wasn't one of his finer moments.

Phil's explanation supports a DQ, since he admitted trying to gain an advantage. But I think his explanation was BS, so the 2-stroke penalty was ultimately the right decision.

Did they DQ Daly when he did the same thing at the us open at Pinehurst? I honestly can't remember.

rsvman I don’t remember either. I heard someone say he got a 2 stroke penalty a little while ago. I know he withdrew in disgust at one US Open, but don’t remember if it’s the same one he whacked the moving ball.

mikeintopeka

Yea, had he said he just momentarily lost it, he'd be the hero of the people who think the course was too tricked up to be fair,including me. Trying to somehow suggest he was being smart was just an awful idea.

I struggle with this, I know it was out of frustration and rightfully so. I think the statement was made to force the USGA to deal with more drama. I don’t think they can DQ him and he knows it, which is why I like what he said. He’s said all along they are useless and now he’s proving his point, they can’t get anything right. It’s going to cost his a lot of money to do it, but he’s doing it.

The right thing for the USGA to do is say, we know he was using the rules, but not in the spirit of the game, he is disqualified. The thing for Phil to do, is withdraw, but if I were in his shoes, I might just play it out and hit as many redonkuless shots as I possibly could to illustrate what a mess they made of the course.

The USGA could screw up a wet dream...

ode
I don't think he intentionally cheated. He didn't want to own up to a John Daly moment so he tried to spin it as calculated to portray himself as "smart." Because Fook I'm Good, Just Ask Me! LOL. Just made it worse, IMO.

MidwayJ well, he intentionally hit a moving ball. Post round would have been a perfect opportunity to use his proven sharp tongue, instead we get his poor example of sportsmanship and his figjam spin to illustrate a point. I don't think it hurts his image much because the usga is the bigger villain here. But it was still chicken sh1t by Figjam!

johnnydoom However, given the circumstances, it also clearly wasn’t to gain a competitive advantage

I applaud Phil for his stance on pace of play.

DC300 I struggle with this, I know it was out of frustration and rightfully so. I think the statement was made to force the USGA to deal with more drama.

He had zero time to contemplate any rules advantage after he hit the putt. He reacted out of frustration.
However, he had lots of time to formulate a response after the round.
To me, his response was a "double dare ya" to the USGA to DQ him.
His comments pre-tournament suggest he was already antagonistic towards them and "knew" they would screw up.
He was right about the screw up, imo.

a player uses the rules of golf to their advantage....wow , what a shocker......like this doesn't happen multiple times every week.

Weirfan
Do you really believe he was thinking about the rules at the time of his self implosion?
Hell he even admitted to the walking official and the standard bearer he didn't know what he
just scored on #13.
His post round interview was nothing more than a bunch of FIGJAM BS!IMO

Phil could've simply taken an unplayable, wherever his ball ended up. He could've gone back to within a club-length of where he putted, probably gotten out of that hole with a 9 or a 10 at-worst doing so.

It wasn't about speeding up play. They were in position. The guys up ahead were struggling with the conditions just like they were. Even had he decided to not declare the ball unplayable and played it from where it would've ended up - they still wouldn't have been put on the clock. So the slow-play thing just doesn't jive.

He wanted to make a statement. And he did. And I think he'll regret his actions looking back on it.

Phil has a very narrow window of opportunity to achieve the career grand slam. In his mind he probably thinks the USGA and their trickery has it out for him, that they don't want him to win their tournament. If he's that upset with the organization - simply don't play. And honestly - I wouldn't blame him if he decided to not play any more US Opens. I think boycotting the event would be a much better statement than him making an ass out of himself as he's trying to make an ass out of the USGA.

I'm sure he was frustrated, but he would be the last person I would expect to protest the setup in such a way.

He had options. He just lost it, and then tried to act like he was smarter than everyone else when he was called out for it.

And it backfired.

swinnea

That’s a lot funnier now then when it first came out.

Yeah, and if he knew the rule was 13-1, how did he not know that hitting a moving ball was a two-stroke penalty? LOL

Maybe Phil will start smoking and hanging out with John Daly

I am in the camp of the 2 stroke. The USGA seems to deem Phil made a stroke at moving ball that did hit the cup and continue on, not just go somewhere off to the side.

I think the USGA should get Phil to do another rule video, this one showing the infraction he did, show how each of the rules would have come into play. Also the option of an unplayable lie should be included.

For me the unplayable lie was something hadn't thought of and I have had several occasions where I could have used it. I can see now instead of having the steep side down hill putt that is going to run off the green and down 5 to 10 yards, I can take a penalty and the from the original spot move it two club lengths and now have what could be an uphill putt.

I think too much is being made of it.

Martee For me the unplayable lie was something hadn't thought of and I have had several occasions where I could have used it. I can see now instead of having the steep side down hill putt that is going to run off the green and down 5 to 10 yards, I can take a penalty and the from the original spot move it two club lengths and now have what could be an uphill putt.

Too bad these guys(players) really do not know all the rules. Imagine how many times this could have been used to great advantage/gain, esp. on Sat..

Personally, I think Rule 1-2 should apply in situations such as this regardless of whether the player "makes a stroke" or not. The intent is to stop the ball. But it appears the precedent was set already with the John Daly incident.

There were three scenarios that Phil had to choose from in that situation Saturday.

The first scenario was to play the ball as it lied, after it came to rest, after ramming his initial putt well beyond the hole. Then, if he felt obligated to hold the USGA accountable in his post-round comments - do so. That would've been ideal imo.

The second scenario would've been to simply declare his ball unplayable after the initial putt, go back to where he last struck the ball on the putting green, and with the penalty and 2-club margin of relief under the situation - perhaps saved himself at least a stroke or two. Which likewise would've been fine. And, perhaps, made him look smarter than the USGA in doing so. All within the rules.

The third scenario was to do what he did. Which, imo, was part frustration/part premeditated, in wanting to make the USGA look like the villains.

Except in doing what he did - it backfired.... he basically took the fallout and significantly softened the outcry that should've been explicitly directed toward the USGA and their setup. What he did became a bigger story than the lack of discretion from the USGA regarding setup and hole locations on several holes during a dry and windy afternoon.

Rickie Fowler needed 19 fewer strokes on Sunday (65) than he did on Saturday (84). That is just asinine. But here we are talking about Phil and his idiotic decision to try to 1-up the USGA.

Phil's actions ended up casting a huge shadow over the incompetencies of Mike Davis and his USGA cronies. That's the wort aspect in all of this.