AggieJohn
10-17-2005, 09:11 AM
she disqualifies
http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/spo/med/2005/10/ipt/1129519339.jpg
Michelle Wie walked off the 18th green with her head held high. It wasn't her best golf, but it was good enough for fourth place -- a respectable way to start her professional career.
Nearly two hours later, with a stunned look on her face and the tears still not dry, she tried to explain a bizarre sequence of events that made her debut memorable for all the wrong reasons.
Wie thought she would be cashing her first check. Instead, she was embroiled in a rules dispute that got her disqualified Sunday in the Samsung World Championship.
``I'm pretty sad, but, you know, I think I'm going to get over it,'' Wie said. ``I learned a lot from it. It's obviously not the way I wanted to begin, but it's all right.''
Everything went all wrong when she finished with a 2-over 74, leaving her 10 shots behind Annika Sorenstam.
Sorenstam, as dominant as she has been all year, responded to all the hype around the 16-year-old phenom from Hawaii by turning a four-shot lead into nine shots at the turn, building it as large as 10 shots and then closing with a double bogey from the desert for a 3-under 69.
Wie's troubles stemmed from the day before, when she took a drop from a Gold Lantana bush to the left of the par-5 seventh green, took a penalty drop for an unplayable lie, and escaped with a par.
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Two rules officials escorted her to the seventh green after her final round Sunday, and she was asked to show where the ball disappeared into the bush, and where she took her drop.
They determined it was too close to the hole -- 3 inches too close according to Wie, about a foot according to the rules officials. That's a two-shot penalty, so she should have added two strokes to her third-round 71.
Ultimately, she was disqualified for signing an incorrect card, which cost her $53,126 in prize money.
``I learned a great lesson,'' Wie said. ``From now on, I'll call a rules official no matter where it is, whether it's 3 inches or 100 yards. I respect that.''
Michael Bamberger, a reporter for Sports Illustrated, told tour officials Sunday afternoon that he was concerned about the drop. Rules officials Jim Haley and Robert O. Smith reviewed tape from NBC Sports before taking Wie and caddie Greg Johnston to the seventh green after the tournament ended Sunday.
``If I had to make the ruling based on the videotape, to me it was inconclusive,'' Smith said.
He had Johnston and Wie show him where the ball was in the bushes, then where they dropped. They paced it off, then used string to measure the distance and determined it to be slightly closer.
``The Rules of Golf are based on facts,'' Smith said. ``They had to tell us where it was. The fact was, the ball was closer to the hole by 12 to 15 inches.''
AP - Oct 16, 9:41 pm EDT
More Photos
Bamberger was on the seventh hole Saturday when Wie took her drop, then paced off the distance from the hole after Wie, in the final group that day, went to the eighth tee. He asked her after the third round how she determined where to drop the ball, and Wie said she used ``the triangle thing to make sure that you're not closer.''
Even after her disqualification, she felt she did nothing wrong.
``I was honest out there,'' she said. ``I did what I thought was right. I was pretty confident. If I did it again, I'd still do that. It looked right to me. But I learned my lesson.''
Johnston, who has spent the last 12 years caddying for Juli Inkster, got into a heated discussion with Bamberger as Wie and her family left Bighorn in a steady rain.
Johnston was bothered that Bamberger, who was at the seventh green when Wie took the drop, waited a day before raising it with tour officials. Had she been notified Saturday before signing her card, she wouldn't have been disqualified.
Bamberger said he paced it off after Wie, playing in the final group Saturday, finished the hole.
``I did it in crude way -- `Let's see what she has to say.' I was hopeful she could convince me,'' in the Saturday interview, Bamberger said. ``I thought about it more and was just uncomfortable that I knew something. Integrity is at the heart of the game. I don't think she cheated. I think she was just hasty.''
Asked why he didn't bring it up before the third round ended, Bamberger said, ``That didn't occur to me. I was still in my reporter's mode. I wanted to talk to her first.''
The DQ stole all the attention from Sorenstam's impressive victory.
It was announced about an hour after the 35-year-old Swede left Bighorn with the trophy, satisfied with her eighth victory of the year, especially since it happened amid enormous hype surrounding Wie's pro debut.
Sorenstam cares more about winning than sending emphatic statements, yet managed to do both Sunday.
``It's obviously very satisfying,'' Sorenstam said. ``It's a big week for many reasons.''
Asked about those reasons, she talked about joining Mickey Wright as the only players to win the same tournament five times since the LPGA Tour began in 1950 and clinching the money title.
But there was more.
``I want to play well when everyone is talking about someone else,'' she said. ``I'm very competitive.''
She started with a four-shot lead over Gloria Park, built her lead to nine shots at the turn and led by as many as 10 shots until hitting into the desert and making double bogey on the last hole for a 3-under 69.
Even that became a mess.
The LPGA Tour posted her score as a 68 with a bogey on the last hole, and no one knew she made double bogey until her press conference. The volunteer keeping score didn't realize Sorenstam took a penalty shot for an unplayable lie, and while Sorenstam signed for the right score, it wasn't verified because the rules officials were busy with Wie.
Sorenstam finished at 18-under 270 to finish eight shots ahead of 19-year-old rookie Paula Creamer, and earn $212,500, pushing her over $2 million for the fifth straight season.
Creamer, whose two victories this year include a seven-shot win in France, holed a wedge shot for eagle on the 12th hole and shot a 70 to finish second.
``I know what it feels like now to be just crushed,'' Creamer said. ``Annika was probably just sending a statement to the world saying, `I'm still here. I'm still the best player.'''
But it still wasn't enough to be in the spotlight.
http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/spo/med/2005/10/ipt/1129519339.jpg
Michelle Wie walked off the 18th green with her head held high. It wasn't her best golf, but it was good enough for fourth place -- a respectable way to start her professional career.
Nearly two hours later, with a stunned look on her face and the tears still not dry, she tried to explain a bizarre sequence of events that made her debut memorable for all the wrong reasons.
Wie thought she would be cashing her first check. Instead, she was embroiled in a rules dispute that got her disqualified Sunday in the Samsung World Championship.
``I'm pretty sad, but, you know, I think I'm going to get over it,'' Wie said. ``I learned a lot from it. It's obviously not the way I wanted to begin, but it's all right.''
Everything went all wrong when she finished with a 2-over 74, leaving her 10 shots behind Annika Sorenstam.
Sorenstam, as dominant as she has been all year, responded to all the hype around the 16-year-old phenom from Hawaii by turning a four-shot lead into nine shots at the turn, building it as large as 10 shots and then closing with a double bogey from the desert for a 3-under 69.
Wie's troubles stemmed from the day before, when she took a drop from a Gold Lantana bush to the left of the par-5 seventh green, took a penalty drop for an unplayable lie, and escaped with a par.
ADVERTISEMENT
Two rules officials escorted her to the seventh green after her final round Sunday, and she was asked to show where the ball disappeared into the bush, and where she took her drop.
They determined it was too close to the hole -- 3 inches too close according to Wie, about a foot according to the rules officials. That's a two-shot penalty, so she should have added two strokes to her third-round 71.
Ultimately, she was disqualified for signing an incorrect card, which cost her $53,126 in prize money.
``I learned a great lesson,'' Wie said. ``From now on, I'll call a rules official no matter where it is, whether it's 3 inches or 100 yards. I respect that.''
Michael Bamberger, a reporter for Sports Illustrated, told tour officials Sunday afternoon that he was concerned about the drop. Rules officials Jim Haley and Robert O. Smith reviewed tape from NBC Sports before taking Wie and caddie Greg Johnston to the seventh green after the tournament ended Sunday.
``If I had to make the ruling based on the videotape, to me it was inconclusive,'' Smith said.
He had Johnston and Wie show him where the ball was in the bushes, then where they dropped. They paced it off, then used string to measure the distance and determined it to be slightly closer.
``The Rules of Golf are based on facts,'' Smith said. ``They had to tell us where it was. The fact was, the ball was closer to the hole by 12 to 15 inches.''
AP - Oct 16, 9:41 pm EDT
More Photos
Bamberger was on the seventh hole Saturday when Wie took her drop, then paced off the distance from the hole after Wie, in the final group that day, went to the eighth tee. He asked her after the third round how she determined where to drop the ball, and Wie said she used ``the triangle thing to make sure that you're not closer.''
Even after her disqualification, she felt she did nothing wrong.
``I was honest out there,'' she said. ``I did what I thought was right. I was pretty confident. If I did it again, I'd still do that. It looked right to me. But I learned my lesson.''
Johnston, who has spent the last 12 years caddying for Juli Inkster, got into a heated discussion with Bamberger as Wie and her family left Bighorn in a steady rain.
Johnston was bothered that Bamberger, who was at the seventh green when Wie took the drop, waited a day before raising it with tour officials. Had she been notified Saturday before signing her card, she wouldn't have been disqualified.
Bamberger said he paced it off after Wie, playing in the final group Saturday, finished the hole.
``I did it in crude way -- `Let's see what she has to say.' I was hopeful she could convince me,'' in the Saturday interview, Bamberger said. ``I thought about it more and was just uncomfortable that I knew something. Integrity is at the heart of the game. I don't think she cheated. I think she was just hasty.''
Asked why he didn't bring it up before the third round ended, Bamberger said, ``That didn't occur to me. I was still in my reporter's mode. I wanted to talk to her first.''
The DQ stole all the attention from Sorenstam's impressive victory.
It was announced about an hour after the 35-year-old Swede left Bighorn with the trophy, satisfied with her eighth victory of the year, especially since it happened amid enormous hype surrounding Wie's pro debut.
Sorenstam cares more about winning than sending emphatic statements, yet managed to do both Sunday.
``It's obviously very satisfying,'' Sorenstam said. ``It's a big week for many reasons.''
Asked about those reasons, she talked about joining Mickey Wright as the only players to win the same tournament five times since the LPGA Tour began in 1950 and clinching the money title.
But there was more.
``I want to play well when everyone is talking about someone else,'' she said. ``I'm very competitive.''
She started with a four-shot lead over Gloria Park, built her lead to nine shots at the turn and led by as many as 10 shots until hitting into the desert and making double bogey on the last hole for a 3-under 69.
Even that became a mess.
The LPGA Tour posted her score as a 68 with a bogey on the last hole, and no one knew she made double bogey until her press conference. The volunteer keeping score didn't realize Sorenstam took a penalty shot for an unplayable lie, and while Sorenstam signed for the right score, it wasn't verified because the rules officials were busy with Wie.
Sorenstam finished at 18-under 270 to finish eight shots ahead of 19-year-old rookie Paula Creamer, and earn $212,500, pushing her over $2 million for the fifth straight season.
Creamer, whose two victories this year include a seven-shot win in France, holed a wedge shot for eagle on the 12th hole and shot a 70 to finish second.
``I know what it feels like now to be just crushed,'' Creamer said. ``Annika was probably just sending a statement to the world saying, `I'm still here. I'm still the best player.'''
But it still wasn't enough to be in the spotlight.