In the wake of the British Open at Royal St. George's, Dustin Johnson's harsh critics are ridiculous

The criticism being leveled at Dustin Johnson for hitting his second shot out of bounds on Royal St. George’s par-5 14th hole is nearly ridiculous. For the most part it is coming from people who have never even played dead into a 30 mph wind on a links course with OB hard on the right, just 5 yards off the fairway.

The situation was that Darren Clarke had a 2-shot lead. Johnson smoked his tee ball at least 30 yards past Clarke and had 250 yards to the front of the green. After Clarke laid up to short iron range with his second, Johnson had the opportunity to turn his length into a big advantage. If you watched most of the coverage, you’d have known that birdie ion this hole was now less than likely for Clarke, mainly because of that short iron shot he would have into the howling yet unpredictable wind.

So all Johnson did was try to win by hitting a low-hooking laser that would run along the ground under the wind and get somewhere close to the front of the green, giving him the outside chance of a chip-in eagle but also a near certain birdie. Maybe he’d get to within one shot with 4 holes to play – a different ballgame.

Sadly for him, Johnson didn’t quite pull it off. From his shut clubface position combined with trying to keep it low off of that tight lie, he got a smidge in front of it. The ball slid to right and once the wind hit it, it was doomed. Seems to me we should commend him for the effort of trying to win instead of hammering him for not pulling it off.