Dustin Johnson: British Open Slice of Life

It is probably an oxymoron, but Dustin Johnson hit it out of bounds at the British Open today on a hole where it didn't seem like out of bounds was in play.

Commenting on the air live, Paul Azinger did not even want to use the word that would best describe the ball flight, and deftly avoiding saying what everyone calls a slice. 

Inexplicably, with a gaping, wide-open sun drenched fairway in front of him, Johnson stood up to his second shot at the par five 14th hole and laid up, not just offline, not just into the long grass, but way the heck out of bounds.

When he held a fresh ball out at arm's length and dropped it for his next shot, he looked exactly like Keven Costner going for it again and again until he finally made it over the water in a golf movie called "Tin Cup."

In that show, anyway, after the bad shots, you could look instead at Rene Russo in tight clothing.

At the Open this year, the only visual relief provided after Johnson's ugly shot, was the image of a non-cigar chomping Darren Clarke methodically knocking down pins and finally knocking down some putts as well.

Who knows what's next now for the guy with the extra-long drives and sideburns?

But he has now messed up profoundly in the late going, with victory in the offing, at the British, the PGA and US Open.

At least, if Johnson can find a way to blow it near the end at Augusta next year, he'll have some kind of reverse career grand slam going for him.