LPGA State Farm Classic [Spoilers]

[TD22057]

Yikes. Nike doesn't just need to get her public speaking lessons, they need to get her a total life instructor. Things this person could start with:

- public speaking
- the proper way to sign your card
- how to take a legal drop
- how to tell your parents to back off

[ECT]

She was disqualified for not signing her scorecard.

Oh my!

[Thrash13]

That sucks big time for Wie, but it's part of it. I still think that's a silly thing to be DQed for, but it can't be that hard to sign the scorecard can it?

This might set her back even more, ya never know.

[Harry Longshanks]

WTF????

So, they are saying that she left the scoring tent before signing her card after the second round? If I'm reading it correctly, it's not that she didn't sign at all, but she left the official scoring area before signing. What if she had to pee really bad or something? And why didn't someone stop her? And how come they didn't take care of this yesterday, instead of letting her play today?

If anyone finds additional details, could you please post them here, as I am still watching the British Open and don't want to look at the golf sites until I'm done. Thanks.

[geezer]

Thats BS, imo. But, I guess rules are rules...

I'm with you, Harry. What I read into that is that she did sign the scorecard, just not while she was within the white ropes.

[ctmurrray]

WTF????

My reading as well - she was inside the magic tent when she signed. A stupid rule since it cannot possibly give her an advantage over the other players by signing outside the tent. And the rules officials should have kept her in the magic tent if it was so important to them. Some have suggested that outside the tent you don't have your witness, but since your opponent keeps your score and they sign the card (witness the card) then you sign, basically your signature is agreeing with your witness that this is your true score . So your witness has already spoken.

I bet if it was Annika, they would have given her a break or made sure she signed before leaving the magic tent. I agree with another about what happens if you have to go to the bathroom? Because they have a rule saying you should sign the card immediately or you get a DQ. This was an LPGA rule and we should protest in the strongest possible manner.

[iacas]

So, they are saying that she left the scoring tent before signing her card after the second round?

Yep.

http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/...824638,00.html

If I'm reading it correctly, it's not that she didn't sign at all, but she left the official scoring area before signing. What if she had to pee

She didn't.

And how come they didn't take care of this yesterday, instead of letting her play today?

They weren't aware of it until after she'd teed off today.

I bet if it was Annika, they would have given her a break or made sure she signed before leaving the magic tent.

That's just silly speculation, and frankly, I think the LPGA Tour would get a lot more mileage out of a Michelle Wie win than an Annika win at this point. Annika never moved the needle among the non-core golf fan. Michelle Wie does.

Some might think it's a little bit of payback for the way she's treated some of the others (including Annika) in last year. But that's an awfully big allegation and again, rules are rules.

This was an LPGA rule and we should protest in the strongest possible manner.

It's a rule of golf. Look it up. 6-6b.

[Akers]

She was disqualified for not signing her scorecard.

Hahahaha, that is such an amature mistake. You would think the person marking her card would tell her or something.

[BSweet]

Michelle Wie getting DQed is the stupidest thing ever. I think this is a case of officials picking on her. What a joke. If you sign a CORRECT scorecard it shouldn't matter where or when it happens (unless she's signing it at 11:59pm at night at her house and has it fed-exed to the officials). The LPGA apparently doesn't want to build a star. GOOD JOB!

[iacas]

Rules are rules, and when you start breaking them, it's a slippery, slippery slope.

[Scratch-Hopeful]

Michelle Wie getting DQed is the stupidest thing ever. I think this is a case of officials picking on her. What a joke. If you sign a CORRECT scorecard it shouldn't matter where or when it happens (unless she's signing it at 11:59pm at night at her house and has it fed-exed to the officials). The LPGA apparently doesn't want to build a star. GOOD JOB!

They also apparently want everybody to follow the rules and want to treat everyone fairly. Shame on them.

When I first heard the report that she was disqualified because of this I initially thought it was dumb but rules are rules, and come on, signing a scorecard really isn't that hard of a thing to do.

[BSweet]

Rules are rules, and when you start breaking them, it's a slippery, slippery slope.

True, but some rules are ridiculous. That's why the rules are constantly being changed. I hope this one does too.

[BSweet]

When I first heard the report that she was disqualified because of this I initially thought it was dumb but rules are rules, and come on, signing a scorecard really isn't that hard of a thing to do.

Did they ever say WHY she didn't sign it immediately?

[Harry Longshanks]

They weren't aware of it until after she'd teed off today.

I disagree. They were aware of it the moment it happened. According to the article, the scorer chased her down and had her come back and sign.

If Wie can be DQ'd for not knowing the rules, I think the LPGA and the tournament organizers should at least have to answer for why they didn't know the rules. If you are sitting in the scoring tent and your only job is to make sure the players sign their cards, then you had better report a violation immediately, and, without question, the incident should be resolved before the player begins (no to mention finishes ) the next round. And the comment by the LPGA's director of tournament competitions, Sue Witters, that " She was like a little kid after you tell them there's no Santa Claus. " was completely inappropriate. Someone in an official capacity should say nothing worse than "yes, she was very upset" - not compare Wie to a disillusioned toddler. Very unprofessional. Something is amiss here. EDIT: And for the record, I am neither a Wie fanboy, nor a hater. I just call 'em like I see 'em.

[iacas]

I disagree.

I'm sorry, but you can't really disagree - the article said "That's when Wie was disqualified by LPGA officials, who said they'd learned during play Saturday from tournament volunteers about the 18-year-old's mistake."

Volunteers chased her down yesterday. Officials didn't find out until today.

If Wie can be DQ'd for not knowing the rules, I think the LPGA and the tournament organizers should at least have to answer for why

They do know the rules. That's why they DQed her - they followed the rules. If anything, perhaps they can be applauded for not DQing her mid-round. They interviewed Michelle after her round, she apparently re-stated the same happenings, and she was subsequently DQed.

Rules are rules, and again, if you start breaking them for some people you start your way down a slippery slope, as I said earlier. I also think it's highly, highly unlikely THIS rule will be changed. The rule about signing an incorrect scorecard still exists and Robert de Vicenzo's thing happened IN A MAJOR and FORTY years ago. Rules about scoring are at the most basic and core of the game. Even if you change the rule to say a golfer should be allowed a "reasonable" amount of time to sign their scorecard you introduce "grey" (as in a grey area) to the rule. The way it's written now, there's no grey area. Rules are rules. 99.9+% of golfers don't get DQed each week.

[barrycuda]

how many rounds of golf has she played in her time so far? thousands? she should know that a golf card needs signing when you drop it off. dumb plain and simple.

[Harry Longshanks]

I'm sorry, but you can't really disagree. Volunteers chased her down. Officials didn't find out until today. That's what's stated.

Pardon me? I can't disagree?

(a) Just because it was "stated" doesn't make it true. (b) If knowledge of the rules can be (and is) imputed to the players, then it can (and should be) imputed to the officials. It's both absurd and impractical to take the position that because the tournament director didn't find out about it until mid-round today, that it effectively "wasn't known" and that "nothing could be done about it." Of course something could be done about it - yesterday. It happened yesterday, the scorer knew about it when it happened, and the scorer is part of the tournament officials. The tournament and the LPGA are covering their arse for an unacceptable mistake. Either someone knew the rule and wanted to make an exception for Wie by not reporting it but got "found out", or someone didn't know the rule and therefore didn't report it. Regardless of which, the tournament and the LPGA were in the wrong and should be held accountable. I would also like to hear the circumstances surrounding why Wie didn't sign her scorecard in a timely manner (was the scoring area not properly marked, did she get distracted by a reporter, was she heading for the ladies' room, etc) But that is a different, albeit equally important, issue.

[worst_shot_ever]

I read the statement as Iacas does: the local officiants chased her down and got her to sign it, then later reported the incident to the LPGA officials.

The scorecard rules do seem to be substantively pointless, hypertechnical, and needlessly inflexible -- I've always thought that -- but they also cannot be enforced on an ad hoc basis ... even when (or perhaps especially when) it is against a headline player who is engaged in a potentially career-altering tournament. I feel very sorry for her, but it is nonetheless amazing to me that Wie, whose sole responsibility is the game of golf (let's not kid ourselves about her course work at Stanford), and her caddie and handlers, who are presumably among the best in the business, would make this sort of mistake. The solution is relaxing the rule through the rule-making process. As Iacas says, though, the same thing has happened before and the rule hasn't been altered yet.

At any rate, I also wholehartedly agree with Longshanks that the statement by Witters was ridiculous and she should be embarassed. If Wie reacted poorly to the ruling, at least she has the excuse that she's young and had just suffered a huge personal blow -- Witters was just being catty. Shameful.