Dustin Johnson blows lead on No. 18, gets 2-shot penalty for grounding club

Kaymer wins PGA Championship in playoff

Dustin Johnson blows lead on No. 18, gets 2-shot penalty for grounding club

Charlie Riedel / AP

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. - In this most unpredictable of seasons, Martin Kaymer beat Bubba Watson in a three-hole playoff for his first major title at the PGA Championship, while Dustin Johnson was left to wonder what could have been after being penalized on the final hole of regulation Sunday.

Johnson had a one-shot lead on the 18th hole at Whistling Straits when he hit into a bunker to the right of the fairway where thousands of fans had been walking all week. Unaware he was in a bunker, he allowed the head of his club to touch the ground, which is a violation when in a trap, before hitting toward the green.

After missing his par putt for the victory, Johnson was assessed a two-shot penalty. Instead of 71 to join Kaymer and Watson in the three-hole playoff, he erased his score from a 5 to a 7 and signed for a 73 to tie for fifth.

"Updated 45 minutes ago">  Vote: Should Johnson have been penalized on No. 18?

It was the cruelest ruling at a major since Roberto de Vicenzo accidentally signed for a higher score at the 1968 Masters, and the victory went to Bob Goalby.

"Walking up there, seeing the shot, it never once crossed my mind that I was in a sand trap," Johnson said. "It very unfortunate. The only worse thing that could have happened was if I had made the putt on that last hole."

It was the second major disappointment this year for the 26-year-old Johnson. He had a three-shot lead going into the final round of the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, only to make triple bogey on the second hole and shoot 82.

PGA CHAMPIONSHIP 1. Bunkers: 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. This will mean that many bunkers positioned outside of the ropes, as well as some areas of bunkers inside the ropes, close to the rope line, will likely include numerous footprints, heel prints and tire tracks during the play of the Championship. Such irregularities of surface are a part of the game and no free relief will be available form these conditions. Note 1: The sand area in front, left and behind No. 5 green in the later water hazard is NOT a bunker (do not move stones). Note 2: Where necessary, blue dots define the margin of a bunker.

That was his own fault. This is sure to create plenty of finger-pointing at the design of the course, and the PGA of America's decision to treat every bunker — even if the gallery puts a lawn chair in the sand — as a hazard.

Six years ago, Stuart Appleby was assessed a four-shot penalty when he drove into the gallery and grounded his club, thinking it was a waste area.

The PGA of America put a notice in the locker room all week that every sand trap was in play regardless of its location.

"If it was up to me, I wouldn't have thought I was in a bunker," Johnson said. "But I've got to deal with it."