Michelle Wie disqualified

[slickpitt]

Yeah I think that's nit-picking a little. Not much of a fan of hers... but eh, that was kinda stupid.

[Stooonne]

Shes a tool for not signing her scorecard RIGHT AWAY.

In tournament golf, you HAVE TO sign it right away, you CANNOT FOR ANY CIRCUMSTANCE leave the scoring area without signing!!!!

This is not a dumb rule in any shape or form, she made YET ANOTHER stupid mistake. It's like "whats guna happen next" with ms. wie...

Yep, I keep wanting to root for her but she makes it tough when she does stupid things over and over.

[Harry Longshanks]

Ok now that's really screwed up, I failed to notice that the infraction happened on friday & she wasn't informed of any disqualification until after her saturday rd was complete. Something stinks in the officiating on this call.

That's the beef I have with the whole thing. The tournament officials and the LPGA let her play the entire Saturday round.

Why wasn't this taken care of immediately? I think the tournament/LPGA has to take some of the blame for this. If you are the scorer in the tent, your only job is to make sure cards are signed. How could you let her leave before checking the card.

But what really raises my suspicions is that the LPGA/tournament officials changed their reason of why Wie was allowed to play Saturday. When the DQ was first announced, the reason was that officials didn't learn of the problem until midway through Wie's round on Saturday.

Uh, what? A scorer ran down Wie, got her to sign the card, and then didn't report any problem? Sounds like the LPGA needs to re-visit their training procedures.

But now, it's being reported that officials allowed her to play the round so that she could be given the opportunity to explain what happened.

Uh, what? If she signed the card after leaving the scoring area, she violated the Rules. No "explaining" changes that.

But that still doesn't excuse the failure of tournament officials to handle this when it happened, or at a minimum, before Wie teed off the next day (not to mention, that because she was tied for 2nd IIRC, she would have been one of the last tee times.)

I'm not excusing Wie for her error, but something stinks on the tournament side.

I will agree that her caddy bears some responsibility, but I think he should be kept on the bag after seeing their interactions and her stellar play. (If you didn't watch the broadcasts, Wie's play was fantastic - especially Friday.)

[Wi-Golfer]

I'm not excusing Wie for her error, but something stinks on the tournament side.

Agreed, I wonder if she had fallen back to 10th place or worse if she still would have been disqualified? Conspiracy theory against Wie??

[ManchesterGolfer]

I'm one of the few who like Wie but FFS I play in at least one Comp a week and marking/signing my card correctly is a basic part of tournament play. I ca't belive she didn't check it especially when she'd put a good score together. If I've played crap (which is most of the time) I give the card a quick once over but if I've put a good score together I check it 3 or 4 times and I'm not even a Pro. I agree it's a daft rule but its one of the most simple ones, she should have signed the card before starting play like some of the old dudes do at my club.

Incorrect marking of the card is a horrable way of getting disqualified. A fella at ours had the round of his life 2 weeks ago he shot 46 stableford points in tough windy conditions He had signed his card and had all the scores written down correctly but had forgotten to write his handicap on the card so was DQ'd. I qustioned this with our Pro saying it's a bit harsh and could they not just have looked up his HC for him and written it on themselves but he just said its the same rule for everybody.

[Teddy T]

Some interesting posts here. Some think the rule is stupid but I think you gotta have the rule. You can't have players wander off and come back when they feel like to sign their scorecards.

Another post cited automated scoring. I don't think that would work too good since the only person that really knows the score is the player. A player could be playing by himself, or he could be hitting multiple shots, with drops and provisionals, etc. Only the player knows what the score is and the player needs to sign the scorecard to verify it.

The bottom line here is I feel Wie is a cheater. To me, it's not a stupid mistake. She should have called the violation on herself and she didn't. How far did she think she could wander off without signing her card? It's just like the drop she got DQ'd for - she's trying to get away with something.

[Wi-Golfer]

The bottom line here is I feel Wie is a cheater.


she's trying to get away with something.

Wow is that ever offbase. She didn't get 10' out of the scoring tent, was called back & signed the card. How the hell is that cheating or attempting to get away with something?

[cabinessence]

I agree it's a daft rule but its one of the most simple ones

This is how I feel about players keeping their own score on Tour. Does it make sense in the grand scheme of things? Not really. Tour players are show ponies who go out there for our amusement and probably shouldn't be responsible for their card.

But on Tour, they use the Rules of Golf--and in almost every other possible circumstance, the golfer has to keep his own score, whether it's during a normal round or a local/regional/club tournament. The authorities are rightfully wary of having a "Tour ball" or a "Tour club" and they shouldn't have "Tour rules" as well.

[ManchesterGolfer]

The authorities are rightfully wary of having a "Tour ball" or a "Tour club" and they shouldn't have "Tour rules" as well.

Spot on the Game we play at Club level is the Same Game they Play at Pro level.

And if somebody else was scoring for him how would the player go about calling a penalty shot on himself if he breached a rule unknown by other's - ie, accidently Grounding his club in a hazard Or the ball moving slightly on the green after he grounds his putter and so on.

[sssmokin]

That was the fault of the LPGA officials in the tent and her caddie. The poor kid plays great and now this happens. I'm not a fan of hers, but this sucks.

[mddubya]

Who ever was sitting at the table when Wie handed in her card SHOULD have noticed it right away. I mean, how many responsibilities does this person have? All this person had to do was say, "uh, Ms. Wie, you forgot to sign your card", and this would have all been avoided.


Regardless, it really sucks, she plays the best 3 rounds she has played in ages and this happens, :o

[West Coast Duffer]

Who ever was sitting at the table when Wie handed in her card SHOULD have noticed it right away. I mean, how many responsibilities does this person have? All this person had to do was say, "uh, Ms. Wie, you forgot to sign your card", and this would have all been avoided.


Regardless, it really sucks, she plays the best 3 rounds she has played in ages and this happens, :o

I thought about that also, why don't the officials check the cards and say something, I feel that aiding the players would be some other kind of rules violation and is the full responsibility of the player, the officials aren't there to check every card for sigs.

I think someone else mentioned the players use every single rule available to their advantage just like Tiger when he had the gallery move that big ass boulder, so these people know the rules and what they can and cant do.

[jskd82]

This totally sucks for her :( Could it be that she was so excited about shooting a great round that she let her "high" overwhelm her? She hasn't played this good in a long time so maybe this messed with her thinking after the round.

[Harry Longshanks]

Could it be that she was so excited about shooting a great round that she let her "high" overwhelm her?

I'm voting for "she had to pee really bad" (or something similar that was a major distraction).

That, or she's just cursed. I'm disappointed because her beautiful "Big Wiesy" swing with that deep, held follow-through was back and, man, was it fun to watch.

I really hope she bounces back for her next tourney because when she is on, she makes it exciting. Her two eagles this week were just beautiful. (Not to mention the bogey-free round.)

[GettingInShape]

Not a fan of the rule. But a rule is a rule. Thus she broke it and had to pay the penalty. But 100% this could have been avoided with a better set of guidelines for those in the scores tent. And the LPGA should make sure that this never happens again.

The penalty for Ms Wie is huge. As she may not get her tour card for next year because of this. And it's just a shame that this so easily could have been avoided. But again a rule is a rule, and she new it, and has no one to blame but herself.

I would also think that in the future her caddy, and every caddy should follow the player into the scores tent to confirm that the scorecard has been signed.