What bunker?

I was just going to have a short wrap up on the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits (in Wisconsin!), but s**t got real so I’m going to talk about it a little longer than I planned. Now, I didn’t watch much of the tournament since I was out of town, but I saw highlights and heard about the controversy. In case you missed it, German golfer Martin Kaymer defeated Bubba Watson in a 3-hole playoff, partly because of Watson’s idiotic attempt to clear a water hazard. This means Europeans have won the last three major championships. But enough with the boring stuff. Kaymer’s win was overshadowed by a controversial moment on the 18th hole involving Dustin Johnson, who had a one stroke lead before this happened:

Johnson hit his tee shot well right and the ball landed in a small bunker that was beaten down by spectators (the course has an estimated 1,200 bunkers). The problem is that Johnson didn’t realize the ball was in a bunker, and he grounded his club – twice – before hitting his second shot. Since it’s illegal to ground your club before hitting the ball out of a bunker, Johnson was penalized two strokes. After he finished up the hole with a bogey that at the time would have tied him with Watson and Kaymer, an official asked him if he grounded his club before his second shot. Johnson at first denied that he did and wondered why the official even asked him the question. Unfortunately, after watching the replay in the clubhouse, Johnson saw his grave mistake and had to change his score on the 18th hole from a 5 to a 7, costing him a chance at playing in the 3-hole playoff.

I’m pretty torn on this issue…the rule that players were supposed to read before the tournament clearly stated that, “All areas of the course that were designed and built as sand bunkers will be played as bunkers (hazards), whether or not they have been raked.” Therefore, there is really no excuse for what Johnson did. Let that be a lesson to all the youngsters in school to always read the directions before you begin your assignment. Rules change from course to course and this is part of the uniqueness of golf. However, no one seemed to know what was going on at the time of the incident, including the announcers, golf experts, and Johnson himself. So since the situation was so confusing and the stakes were so high, why can’t the rules official just clarify with Johnson that his ball is laying in a bunker? I know that the player is supposed to ask for help when certain issues are in question, but Johnson didn’t even think twice and figured the ball was just in a trampled down area. I mean, c’mon…does this look like a bunker to you (mute the volume, the guy is really annoying)? Maybe it did at one point, but it was stomped on hundreds of thousands of times for four days and people are standing inside of it while Johnson is taking his shot. I think that if everyone had cleared out of this poor excuse for a bunker, Johnson would have realized that the ball was actually in a sand trap. If there is a similar situation to this one in the future, an official should have the right to alert the golfer to avoid such a conflict. Just imagine if Johnson made his par putt and wound up being the winner before being told about his penalty…ouch.

The Packers played their first preseason game of the year on Saturday against the Cleveland Browns, and as far as the defense is concerned, let’s be glad it didn’t count. From what I watched (the first half), Rodgers and the offense were clicking on all cylinders…with the exception of Ryan Grant. Grant fumbled early on and was also knocked out of the game with a head injury from a hard hit, but hopefully it’s nothing serious. To be honest, I’m not too high on Grant, but it’s not like we have anyone better to step in at running back…I’m probably being a little greedy anyhow. Still, the offense was fun to watch. The defense was a whole different story as it appeared that they picked up where they left off from last year. And that’s no good. Hopefully given time, the defensive unit will figure things out. I’m not really going to worry about it too much because it’s preseason. Enough said. Green Bay’s next game is this upcoming Saturday against the Seattle Seahawks.

Strictly from watching about two innings and the highlights from the Milwaukee Brewers’ series in Colorado, it looked like the Crew pretty much kicked away a sweep and only managed to come away with one victory. The bullpen was a major issue once again, but you can’t put all the blame on this unit. The starting pitching is towards the bottom of the league as far as innings pitched per game, and the bullpen is wearing down as a result because of how many innings they in return are forced to pitch. Anyways, the Brewers are 55-64 and I’m getting a little depressed talking about them so let’s move on.

The one good thing that comes along with preseason football is fantasy football drafts. In the past, I’ve played in leagues where people will show up for the draft and then never check the league site for the rest of the season. I’m hoping this changes as the main league I’m playing in (out of four…I know, I’m an addict) requires a $10 buy-in. You would think this compels people to check their team and stay active. Otherwise, I don’t know what will. The draft for this league is coming up Thursday night so I’ll have a part of an upcoming post devoted to how the draft went for me and continue having a portion on fantasy football as the year goes on. Here is an interesting piece by one my favorite writers, Bill Simmons, on some changes that he thinks should take place in fantasy football. Take a look at the basics of fantasy football here if you’re new to the ‘sport.’ Also, I’ll plan on picking games week by week against the spread for fun…maybe have a friendly competition with another avid football fan I know.

On deck: Current issues
In the hole: Pinch hitter (Get it? Since I don’t know what I’m going to write about?)

Until next time…