USGA president calls the U.S. Women’s Open champion by the wrong name 4 times

The USGA is on quite a roll. After finishing its second straight major tournament amid another rules controversy, association president Diana Murphy took the podium to present the hardware to 2016 U.S. Women’s Open winner, Brittany Lang.

Except Murphy introduced the new champ as “Bethany” Lang. Not once, not twice, but four times.

Lang, who defeated Anna Nordqvist in a three-hole aggregate playoff after rules officials docked her opponent two strokes for grounding her club in a bunker, seemed bewildered by the faux pas as members of the audience shouted her actual name at Murphy.

The prez of what some now refer to as the “United States Gaffe Association” likely left the scene with no clue as to what all the hubbub was about — or why her organization has become the laughing stock of the golf world.

At least this time — unlike the way officials blew the Dustin Johnson penalty at the U.S. Open — there was no question about the infraction itself. Nordqvist’s club brushed the sand on the takeaway, which is a no-doubt two-shot penalty, even if there were no intent to breach the rules.

“I didn’t do it on purpose so, you know, what can I say?” Nordqvist, who started Sunday’s finale six shots back of 54-hole leader Lydia Ko and shot a flawless 5-under 67, said immediately after her hard-luck loss. “Touched the sand, so apparently I did … I’ve been playing really good today but it’s just hard to lose that way, but that’s the game of golf.”

And the game of golf is hard, but the USGA seems determined to make it even harder for contenders down the stretch of major championships. Seriously, how do those in charge of making and enforcing the rules not only take too long to inform the players of violations but in this case, as SB Nation’s Brendan Porath noted, tell Lang before Nordqvist?

“Of course” that changed Lang’s strategy, said the first-time major victor about learning, before the her third shot on the third hole (No. 18), of the penalty that Nordqvist incurred on the second extra frame.

“I had lob wedge out, because I was going to hit a high lob wedge to land soft because I thought I needed a birdie,” said Lang, who shot a final-round 71. “I was thankful he told me before I hit my wedge. I hit a little sand wedge way out to the right, and just tried to two-putt from over there.”

Given the order in which the USGA imparted the information, Lang believed she was the one about to get bad news.

“When [the rules official] came up to me, I actually thought he was giving me a penalty, and so I was definitely relieved when I heard it wasn’t me,” she said. “I’m thankful they told me before my wedge shot so I could take a little bit more club.”

So, kudos again to the USGA, which skirted another potential blunder thanks to the clumsy ways it bungled the end of yet another major. There was the small matter of the nearly six hours it took the final three players to make their way around CordeValle in regulation.

Officials put Ko, Eun Hee Ji, and Sung Hyun Park on the clock on the 11th hole.

Ko, who made a double-bogey after hitting her approach to the ninth green into a hazard, took the blame for her playing partners having to rush to their balls and hurry their shots.

“I kind of felt bad, because I almost felt like it was a little bit more of my fault, because we were looking for the ball,” Ko said. “It is tough to be on the clock when it is so windy and when every shot really counts. But we fell out of position and that’s the consequences with it.”

Ko, who would have become the youngest golfer ever to win three majors, began the day with a one-shot lead. She scuffled in with a 75 that included the double, three bogeys, and two birdies.

“Even though I knew I was falling more and more behind, I didn’t want to say, ‘hey, I want to give up.’ Because at the end, even though it was a very small chance, I could have still made … the playoff,” said Ko.

“Even though it didn’t finish the way I wanted it to, I still feel like there’s so many positives from this week,” added the world No. 1. “This is the best finish I’ve had at the U.S. Open. I’ve never been in this position before”

Ko may have failed to pull it off on Sunday, but she walked away with renewed respect from those who play and follow the game. Which is far more than anyone can say about those who govern it, though the USGA, which was forced to atone for the way it bungled the Johnson situation, asked for another mulligan for mangling Lang’s name.

“I would like to apologize to the 2016 U.S. Women’s Open champion, Brittany Lang. During the prize presentation, I mistakenly called her by the wrong name repeatedly,” Murphy said in a statement issued Sunday night soon after the incident. “I have expressed my regret to Brittany personally and explained that in the heat of the moment, I became nervous and made these mistakes. I appreciate her understanding, and I am sorry that what I said may have taken away from a historic moment for a very deserving champion.”