Michelle Wie
Is her fifteen minutes up yet? It's bad enough Nike annointed her with hundreds of millions of dollars (and promote her under eighteen physique in an utterly creepy fashion), but we were then force-fed coverage of her participation in men's tournaments. Wie has done a pretty good job pissing off LPGA and PGA players alike. I guess that's what happens when fourteen year olds out-draw and out-earn superior players.
Wie's biggest problem, however, may be that she just can't seem to stop cheating. A few years back, she had to withdraw from a tournament after taking an illegal drop that left her ball closer to the hole. That's a head-scratchingly difficult rule to break. It's pretty basic: Don't drop your ball in such a manner that it is closer to the hole. Most golfers give themselves some room to err. Instead of fourth place, she managed to get herself kicked out of her first professionally entered tournament.
Strangely enough, that was the second high profile accuasation of cheating against Wie! Although the first incident didn't result in a DQ, it may have been egregious. 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.
Now, we have her odd withdrawal from the Ginn Tribute (will they all drink to Bombay Sapphire at the nineteenth?). On pace for a high eighties score, she withdrew with an "injury" with two holes to go. Why is this suspicious? For one, Wie's camp has been largely silent about the specific diagnosis, even though she supposedly missed about two months worth of tournaments 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 engaged Wie in a discussion shortly before her withdrawal. Scuttlebutt indicates that the "88" rule was mentioned. This obscure rule reads as follows: a non-LPGA member who shoots a score of 88 (or higher) 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 Moody, 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 for each transgression.
It seems pretty clear that Wie received illegal advice from her father (who is quickly matching Nicole/Ashlee Simpsons' and Venus/Serena Williams' respective 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. Wie has become a circus sideshow. In golf, once you're labelled a cheater, it sticks with you forever. Just ask Vijay Singh.
An article on Wie's second cheating episode: http://edition.cnn.com/2005/SPORT/10/17/golf.wie.reut/
Most recent allegations referenced in Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Wie
Wie's biggest problem, however, may be that she just can't seem to stop cheating. A few years back, she had to withdraw from a tournament after taking an illegal drop that left her ball closer to the hole. That's a head-scratchingly difficult rule to break. It's pretty basic: Don't drop your ball in such a manner that it is closer to the hole. Most golfers give themselves some room to err. Instead of fourth place, she managed to get herself kicked out of her first professionally entered tournament.
Strangely enough, that was the second high profile accuasation of cheating against Wie! Although the first incident didn't result in a DQ, it may have been egregious. 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.
Now, we have her odd withdrawal from the Ginn Tribute (will they all drink to Bombay Sapphire at the nineteenth?). On pace for a high eighties score, she withdrew with an "injury" with two holes to go. Why is this suspicious? For one, Wie's camp has been largely silent about the specific diagnosis, even though she supposedly missed about two months worth of tournaments 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 engaged Wie in a discussion shortly before her withdrawal. Scuttlebutt indicates that the "88" rule was mentioned. This obscure rule reads as follows: a non-LPGA member who shoots a score of 88 (or higher) 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 Moody, 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 for each transgression.
It seems pretty clear that Wie received illegal advice from her father (who is quickly matching Nicole/Ashlee Simpsons' and Venus/Serena Williams' respective 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. Wie has become a circus sideshow. In golf, once you're labelled a cheater, it sticks with you forever. Just ask Vijay Singh.
An article on Wie's second cheating episode: http://edition.cnn.com/2005/SPORT/10/17/golf.wie.reut/
Most recent allegations referenced in Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Wie
posted by O.C. Mike at
9:40 AM
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