Michelle Wie Disqualified

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/SPORT/10/17/golf.wie.reut/

It's a pretty basic rule: Don't drop your ball in such a manner that it is closer to the hole. Most golfers give themselves some room to err. Now, instead of fourth place, she has managed to get herself kicked out of her first professional tournament.

Strangely enough, this is the second high profile accuasation of cheating against Wie, although the first one didn't result in a DQ. I think the prior occasion was more egregious, actually. Wie allowed a spectator to kick her ball back toward the green without replacing the ball (If a spectator intentionally affects the path of the ball, you have to place it back where the spectator touched it). On that occasion, the network television broadcasting the event refused to replay the kick. That strange decision by the network led to charges of complicity and favortism.

This time it looks like she was caught red-handed. We'll have to see how this affects her career. The mere hint of cheating has dogged Vijay Singh for years, this may do the same.

By the way, Sorenstam won by eight strokes after double-bogeying the last hole. When asked about Wie before the tournament, she said: "Watch the scoreboard, I'll let my clubs do the talking".

I wonder if Nike feels like it is getting its money's worth.

The backlash I am seeing against the reporter who turned her in is hysterical. Cheating is cheating.

The "having an official for all drops" mentality is popular, but it really slows the game down. She should have an official on hand from now on to prevent her from breaking any more rules.

Well, it sounded as though he wanted to walk it off before he said something. That's reasonably. Should he have said something immediately? I probably would have, but it doesn't make bringing it up later wrong. Wie is in the wrong here. Finding out that her caddy lambasted the reporter who turned her in is also pretty sickening. Where was that guy when she was taking an illegal drop?

I looked at some photos of the area, I hate to say it, but it looks like a drop even five or six inches back would have made the shot much harder.

An interesting point, and one that may very well be true.

I read an interesting article about how network telecasts of golfing events are purposefully orchestrated so that the audience never sees the numerous drops taken by the golfers. Apparently these guys are geniuses at figuring out obstructions and artificial hazards that are "interfering" with their swing. "Play it as it lies" is apparently more of a suggestion than anything else.

Golf is a self-policing game. I have no more problem with a reporter tattling on a cheater than I would with a reporter lending a hand to rescue drowning puppies from a pond. In both circumstances, innocent canine lives are saved.

Vijay was thrown out of the Asian tour for two years in the 80's on charges of doctoring his scorecard after his playing partner had filled it out. He still denies, but once the whispers in golf begin, they don't end.

Wie just can't seem to stop cheating.

On pace for a high eighties score, she withdrew with an "injury" with two holes to go from the Ginn tribute. Why is this suspicious? For one, Wie's camp has been completely silent about the specific nature of the injury, even though she supposedly missed about two months worth of tournament with a wrist ailment. Some golfers have openly questioned the veracity of her claims. I think everyone with a lick of interest in the subject has concluded that her withdrawal from the Ginn wasn't genuine.

LPGA rules officials were seen discussing the "88" rule, which states as follows: a non-LPGA member who shoots a score of 88 is forced to withdraw and is subsequently banned from LPGA co-sponsored events for the remainder of the calendar year". One of Wie's playing partners, Alena Sharp, said, "She wasn't holding her wrist. I think she just had a bad day. If it was her wrist, why wait until the last two holes?" Both Sharp and Wie's other playing partner, Janice Moodie, questioned the actions of Wie's father, B.J., who appeared to give Wie advice during play. That's against the rules and would result in a two-stroke penalty.

It seems pretty clear that Wie received illegal advice from her father (who is quickly matching Nicole/Ashlee Simpson and Venus/Serena Williams fathers' stride for stride in creepiness), didn't take the two stroke penalty, then faked an injury and withdrew from the tournament to avoid taking an eighty-eighty.

That's four allegations of cheating, two of which have essentially been proven (the illegal drop and the taking of advice from her father), in the last few years.