Wie Earns Goose Egg

Sports Illustrated journalist Michael Bamberger had a twinge of conscience the day after Michelle Wie took a drop after declaring an unplayable lie. Bamberger felt that Wie had dropped the ball closer to the hole than her original position. Further inspection and discussion with rules officials seemed to confirm that she had taken a drop approximately one foot past the original lie. Had Bamberger brought up the infraction immediately Wie would have brought home a paycheck instead of a goose-egg.

There are two relevant issues here. The first thing to consider is that Bamberger clearly should have brought up the discrepancy immediately. If he felt that she had taken an illegal drop he should have gone to a rules official on the spot and cleared his aching conscience then. Withholding this information for a day cost Wie a paycheck and caused her unnecessary embarrassment. Correcting her mistake was impossible as she had already signed her card. Had the issue been brought to light at the moment, she could have corrected her mistake.

Finally, I believe that Wie has learned a valuable lesson: That she should err on the side of safety when a rule is in question. She is young and inexperienced and this is just the kind of thing that will help her learn. In the scheme of things this will not be the event that defines her. She is a hall of fame golfer waiting to happen and she just need to let the pieces fall into place.

Wie is strong enough to learn from her mistake. She is an incredible athlete who will prove her prowess on the golf course many times over. What she needs to do in this case is learn from her mistake and move on. What journalist and fans can do from now on is speak up immediately when they see an infraction or leave it in the hands of players and officials to decide.