4. In the 2016 U.S. Open golf tournament, Dustin Johnson was leading the tournament in the...

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4. In the 2016 U.S. Open golf tournament, Dustin Johnson was leading the tournament in the final round, and his ball was resting on the fifth green. While preparing for his upcoming putt, he tapped his putter on the ground next to the ball and the ball moved. The rules at the time stated that if we were highly certain that a player caused his ball to move, even if it was inadvertent, he or she should incur a penalty. Because you're an expert on causation, the rules officials call you in to evaluate the situation. The officials make the following arguments. Please provide your expert response to each one. (a) Johnson couldn't have possibly caused the ball to move, because he (and his putter) never touched it. (b) Johnson shouldn't receive a penalty because the true cause of the ball moving was the greenskeeper. Had the greenskeeper not cut and rolled the greens so much that morning, the ball wouldn't have moved. (c) An empirically minded official went out to the same green, placed a ball down, tapped his putter on the ground next to the ball, and it didn't move. Therefore, Johnson's actions couldn't have caused the ball to move. (d) One official was watching the incident up close and says he's virtually certain that if Johnson had not tapped his putter next to the ball, it wouldn't have moved. Therefore, he caused it to move and should receive a penalty. 4. In the 2016 U.S. Open golf tournament, Dustin Johnson was leading the tournament in the final round, and his ball was resting on the fifth green. While preparing for his upcoming putt, he tapped his putter on the ground next to the ball and the ball moved. The rules at the time stated that if we were highly certain that a player caused his ball to move, even if it was inadvertent, he or she should incur a penalty. Because you're an expert on causation, the rules officials call you in to evaluate the situation. The officials make the following arguments. Please provide your expert response to each one. (a) Johnson couldn't have possibly caused the ball to move, because he (and his putter) never touched it. (b) Johnson shouldn't receive a penalty because the true cause of the ball moving was the greenskeeper. Had the greenskeeper not cut and rolled the greens so much that morning, the ball wouldn't have moved. (c) An empirically minded official went out to the same green, placed a ball down, tapped his putter on the ground next to the ball, and it didn't move. Therefore, Johnson's actions couldn't have caused the ball to move. (d) One official was watching the incident up close and says he's virtually certain that if Johnson had not tapped his putter next to the ball, it wouldn't have moved. Therefore, he caused it to move and should receive a penalty.

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