ABSTRACT
98In the 2010 PGA championship, Dustin Johnson finished the 18th hole tied for the lead and poised to compete against two of his fellow golfers in a playoff to determine who would win. PGA officials ruled, however, that he had to take two penalty strokes for grounding his golf club (i.e., letting it touch the ground next to the ball) in what was deemed to be a sand trap. The problem was that the sand trap had been severely trampled by spectators, so he didn't realize that his ball had come to rest within an actual sand trap. From his perspective, the ball was just in a sandy patch of dirt so he didn't think the rules about sand traps would apply. The penalty that he incurred knocked him out of the championship playoff round. In the weeks following the PGA championship, blogs and message boards lit up over the controversy. Supporters of Johnson argued that the golf course was not well maintained, that the spectators had damaged the sand trap beyond recognition, and that there was no way he could have known his ball was in a trap. Other golf enthusiasts argued that the rules of play were very clearly defined by the PGA and that players were warned about some of the odd sand traps on this particular course prior to the tournament, so Johnson should have been more careful about making his shot. Each side saw the controversy from a different point of view and felt that their arguments were justified.
