Michelle Wie earns her State Farm DQ with dumb mistake, but LPGA shows inept heartless bureaucracy too

I am sure there will be record crowds Sunday to see another Korean win another LPGA tournament...also, the TV ratings will certainly break all records! Michelle, the LPGA is NOT your friend and never will be. You had words with her holiness, Bivens and dissed the Queen Bee, Sorenstam and this certainly puts you in the enemy camp. You can not say "I thought it was O.K." you simply have to know the rules of golf. Baldwin's "almost defense" for Michelle is like telling your wife..."that is a great dress, but." Witter's comment was rude and lacked professionalism. It seemed that she enjoyed making that comment to the press. Though Michelle brought this on herself, I feel it is going to take some time for her to recover. It was the worst thing that could have happen to her.

“She was like a little kid after you tell them there’s no Santa Claus,” LPGA director of tournament competitions Sue Witters told the Associated Press.


Could it be that Sue Witters took a great amount of pleasure in informing Miss Wie of her disqualification?
From Sue Witter's comment, it certainly sounds that way.
Sue Witters is an idiot, that comment was insulting, degrading and downright unnecessary. What an idiot Sue Witters is.

LPGA officials are not very bright OR the SFC promoters are asleep... should have waited till after the final round to do the DQ. Think about the ratings for the final round with MW in contention and SFC will be a fixture in golf history if she wins the tournament.

Geez, MaiTaiSoo, why not wait until after Wie receives her paycheck, puts it in the bank, buys a new car, and THEN tell her she was DQ'ed and demand the $ back? I mean, really rub it in?

Ever notice that a PGA Official escorts players from the 18th green into the scorers location and stays with them until they are completed.

There are many distractions for someone who is contending and after this situation arose a couple of times in the sixties with PGA event leaders, the Tour started making sure players closed the loop.

I guess the Tour didn't want themselves opened up to criticism or the bad publicity associated with this situation.

Ultimately it was Miss Wie's responsibility, but after carding a sixty-five your head is not always in the right place. LPGA take a lesson from the guys and close the loop and your tour will look a lot more professional than it does now.

"...why not wait until after Wie receives her paycheck, puts it in the bank, buys a new car, and THEN tell her she was DQ'ed and demand the $ back?" Thanks Kiel, that's a better suggestion... don't know why I didn't think of it? This story would be good for a whole week cycle instead of just the 24! And just imagine the infamous immortality for the LPGA & SFC because of it.

This has happened before, even to seasoned pros and will happen again, and again. Why is it too much to ask the people manning the scorers tent to check for this before letting the players leave. What is the purpose of these people. Why not just have a drop box.

To quote Annika "It showed a little lack of class". And this time the lack of class was not on the part of Wie.
( and no class at all on the part of Sue Witter )

I wholeheartedly agree with Chris on his assessment of what happened to Michelle Wie. I cannot believe officials in the scorers tent didn't remind her immediately that she hadn't signed the scorecard. Additionly, the quote that has been floating around that Sue Witters delivered about, "there wasn't a Santa Clause" is disgraceful to be said by an official of the LPGA. What a disappointment. To have not told her immediately she would be disqualified is another unbelievable effort by the the officials of the LPGA. Michelle Wie diserves far better than this. Sure, it's a rule, but what a poor performance by the LPGA, the officials in the scorers tent and Sue Witters who should be looking quickly for a new line of work.

This is a huge disappointment.

Someone should get ESPN's take on all of this as they are providing the TV coverage tomorrow. How about the SFC principals and not asking the scoring tent helpers back for next year? How about State Farm and the other tournament sponsors? You know it's always about the money these days. What a ratings blunder this was... should have waited until after the final round to DQ MW. Stupid LPGA Sue Witters.

Who TF is Sue Wittless?

Wie-Wee is not only a poor golfer....she is incompetent (or stupid). She forgot to sign her card!

Sue Witters, the LPGA’s director of tournament competitions, disqualified Wie in a small office in an LPGA trailer at the golf course after asking her what had happened.

“She was like a little kid after you tell them there’s no Santa Claus,” Witters said.

Great job Sue!!! Now all we need is someone to step up and reduce the number of exemptions allowed for LOSERS! ... ZERO sounds like a good number!

I don't believe for a second that Bubbles was surprised by her disqualification.

She made a telling comment that she figured it was all right to sign her card outside of the designated area after she had left that area.

She figured no such thing. She knew she had violated the simplest rule of golf, and she was just hoping that no one would catch it.

She should have notified the tournament director then and there, and called the disqualification on herself.

Instead, she whistled pass the cemetery for the entire third round in the hope that she could skate by.

She, her parents, her agent and her caddie all had to know that she was in violation, but they chose to try to sweep it under the rug.

Fortunately, there were probably too many honest folks present to let it slide.

Alex USMC 1969-73

I do agree that they should have notified her as soon as they detected the problem.

As for the idea that there should be officials holding the players' hands in the scoring tent, I'm not so sure. I mean, why then have the rule in the first place? I'm serious about that. It seems like one of those unnecessary rules anyway. Sure, a player has to sign his scorecard, but if he forgets, what's the big deal if he does it later?

My point is, it seems to me that the only purpose of this rule is to say, "We're going to give you this responsibility (for whatever reason) and you'd better fulfill it." So, again, if that principle is not going to be applied, what's the point?

I believe rules should be enforced strictly, but I also believe in the institution of only just and necessary rules. I'm not sure this qualifies.

The good news about this whole thing that no one has mentioned is that she is starting to play good golf again. So, her preposterous outlook and expectations will bring out the Wie-Wees once again and give us all something to blog about.

The Wie wees were disappearing, glad to see them back so that we can make fun of them once again.

Lance R.

John D, it is very clear that you hate women ... you probably have never played a round of golf in your life.

It's one thing to DQ Michelle Wie, it's another for a grown woman like Sue Witters, a representative of the LPGA, to sound childishly gleeful as a "gotcha kid". It would have been more gracious of the LPGA representative, Ms. Witters, to decline comment or just explained the situation and move on. It would have been professional instead of blurting out her thoughtless comment that just shows herself to be vindictive, but why?

The LPGA should have had someone in the tent should have checked the players' cards or did it just let the volunteers do the LPGA job?

Either way, bad publicity for the LPGA for poorly run and unprofessionalism.

Sorry Alex, it is a LPGA Rule that players sign their card in a designated area and are disqualified when they leave a certain area without signing.

The Rules of Golf simply state a player should sign their card and turn the card into the tournament committee as soon as possible.

The LPGA likes doing these things to themselves.

Ann,
The LPGA hates Michelle and any time they can find fault with anything she does, they are happy.
Letting Bamberger walk off the distance from the drop to the hole was certainly a first in any tournament I have heard of. The closeup shot in the bunker when she nipped the leaf on her back swing was another incident during the Ricoh Open. They are also very stupid to let one of their very best "cash cows" out of the barn. Michelle mentioned that the mistake was a "learning experience", however, it was much more than that. This mistake may change her career path forever.

My Sun was set for ESPN and the SFC today. Awww that stupid lpga SW for messing up my Sun TV schedule. Wonder how many others tuned out for today's ESPN coverage? Big time loss in revenue for all concerned... stupid... stupid... stupid.

Man up LPGA! This Dispicable mishap belongs to everyone in volve with the operation.

Man up LPGA! This Dispicable mishap belongs to everyone in volve with the operation.

Typical. 90% of the article by our man Chris as well as the various and sundry posts focus on everyone else's mistakes and blunders, instead of Michelle's foolish actions. Anyone taking odds that she sues the LPGA for cheating her out of a paycheck and bruising her fragile psyche?

Even Chris Baldwin recognizes the LPGA's unprofessional handling of the Wie's DQ, especially when he has always been Michelle Wie's biggest critic. She was playing well even when she made a carelessly baffling mistake.

It's amusing to read petty and bitchy comments from cerealspiller, John D., and Alex that are not different from Sue Witters and Whaley's chortle. Why are you girls so set against one American female golfer since she starts out? Girls, jealousy is not attractive.

ENVY ANN, ENVY!

What's new? The LPGA incompetently handles numerous situations both involving and not involving Michelle Wie. Many people think they were motivated by Saturday TV ratings so they let her play the whole round. Hey they can't even get their tournaments on the NASA Channel.

However, anyone who has played even on a high school golf team knows to sign your scorecard. How many of you have signed/attested your scorecard when you shoot a breakthrough round?

If the LPGA really did have it out for Michelle Wie they’d pass a rule to further limit sponsor exemptions. Remember, they changed the rules a few years back to allow Wie to play in the LPGA Championship.

Ms. Wie could silence her critics both in the LPGA and on this blog by going to LPGA Q-school and dominating the field as Paula Creamer did. If that's too much pressure in a short period of time, she could play on the Futures Tour (as Grace Park did). If Ms. Wie finishes in the top 5 in earnings, she earns her LPGA card for a year. And that's the problem, Ms. Wie doesn't want to earn her card, she wants the LPGA to hand it to her on a silver platter (with Morgan Pressel carrying it).

Earning her way on would earn respect. If that didn't then she could go out there a kick the butts of the LPGA players who are envious butt.

But Morgan did not try to earn her card on the PGA before earning the right to play on the LPGA.

If there was any doubt that Michelle Wie is the LPGA's equivalent of John Daly (minus the victories, cigarettes, and beer), this should eliminate it. They KNEW she was DQ'd, but they let her play the third round anyway, just because she was a crowd draw, both in-person and televised.

This is like if one of the Williams sisters lost in the second round of a tournament, but was allowed to play in the semis just because she was a bigger draw than someone else. The funny thing is that this was Wie's chance to prove the doubters wrong with a strong tournament showing... her chance to prove that she really belonged. And she screwed it up...

BREAKING NEWS: MW scheduled for the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open with the men (PGA) next week. Yippeeeee, the saga continues and now scrambling to find out who will provide the TV coverage. Gotta get the popcorn ready.

I know the LPGA act very unprofessionally sometimes, but what do you all expect? It's ran by a bunch of fat little madams who doubtless delight in other people's bad fortune. Yes, enough already..we all know the LPGA act incompetently.

But thehe real issue is Michelle Wie. Stop trying to justify her actions. I've read all sorts of nonsense on this blog, and it's starting to really get on my nerves.

"Staff should make SURE they sign their cards; if they don't do that, why else do we need them there? Why should players have to sign their card in a certain area? There was other things on her mind, she was excited, it's totally understandable!"

Such crap. It isn't the staff's responsibility to make sure of this. And of course we still need staff in the scoring tent, do you think the players just drop their card in a box where they're left for five hours or something? The rule about signing your card in a certain area is probably to stop ditzy cows like Michelle from wandering off, then deciding to sign her card an hour and a half later while eating a burger in the clubhouse, then strutting back down to the tent and saying, "Look, here's my card, I forgot to hand it in before!" Use your common sense everyone.

These excuses are simply ridiculous. Listen, everyone at my golf club with hardly any exceptions, walk off the 18th green, sit on the bench, total up their scores together, sign cards, enter them on a computer, then go up for a drink. Normal, everyday people with far greater things to worry about than Michelle. To try and excuse this, then to childishly try to pass the blame onto other people such as the volunteers in the tent, are revealing just what sort of person they really are. The whole of the golf populace sign their kinds just fine. So again, STOP MAKING EXCUSES FOR MICHELLE.

Then you get the idiots that start saying, "Hmm, the rule about signing your card is kinda stupid anyway innit.." Again, just stop it. Stop it right now. That rule's been here from the very start.

Again, I know the LPGA is comprised of a bunch of idiots, among some doubtlessly nice, competent people. But so is the PGA, the PGA Tour, The R&A, etc. They're in all walks of life. Ultimately, it isn't their fault Michelle can't do something so simple as signing her card. It's time to stop blaming other people. Treat her as the adult that she is (supposed to be).

totally agree Dave. Case in point is the mismanagement of the PGA in allowing the 244th ranked women's player in the world tee it up again on the PGA tour, where she's proven she can either finish dead last prior to the cut or just quit in her most recent attempts. It cannot be good for golf to watch her fail yet again to make the cut. Especially after once again demonstrating that she is far from a professional. My view is she figures she gets more notoriety from her failing antics. I bet she meant to DQ as it is a bigger story than her actually achieving something. Because she is way too late to have lived up to her expectations. People thought she'd have won when she was 14, she's now 18, so is it really a story that she wins on the LPGA? Her age group is way way ahead of her, with majors to boot. I think she knows that the only way to stay a story is to continue to do stupid things. So why not go the PGA again, and fail. It makes for good entertainment. But not in my opinion though. I think it is a travesty and the PGA should fix it and require the tournament to revoke the invitation and give the exemption to a deserving individual who may actually benefit from the experience.

Check out USGA Rule 33-7. Disqualification Penalty; Committee Discretion

A penalty of disqualification may in exceptional individual cases be waived, modified or imposed if the Committee considers such action warranted.

Any penalty less than disqualification must not be waived or modified.

If a Committee considers that a player is guilty of a serious breach of etiquette, it may impose a penalty of disqualification under this Rule.

And so Ann pontificates:

It's amusing to read petty and bitchy comments from cerealspiller, John D., and Alex that are not different from Sue Witters and Whaley's chortle. Why are you girls so set against one American female golfer since she starts out? Girls, jealousy is not attractive.

First of all, I'm not a bitchy girl, ala Ann. I'm not set against an American female golfer. I'm not jealous. However poorly the LPGA handled Michelle's blunder, it was still her blunder, and all the asinine comments that the rules should be relaxed are simply a sad commentary on the clueless celebrity worshippers that infest the internet. Do you really expect her to get a free pass, change the rules, etc? You could at least try to latch onto a celebrity who has actually accomplished something and who doesn't fake an injury after 16 holes to avoid having to re-qualify. Maybe Paris Hilton or some other worthy subject.

And here is the bottom line. If our precious Michelle Wie had an ounce of integrity, she would have DQ'd herself after realizing that she had turned in her score card without signing it. Anyone that disagrees with this has likely never played an honest round of golf.

Besides miss signing her card, and not ever winning anything meaningful. She brings in $22,000,000 a year, in sponsorships, and indorsments,I don't think the LPGA, should take so much blame. It's the media, and everyone is using her like Brittney Spears, on crack. She sales, and thats all that matters. Hey winner or not, I would go for the money. She herself knows, she isn't good enough to win by herself, so what else is she to do.