Thanks to the reader who forwarded this letter from the Brand Lady regarding the most recent Michelle Wie incident, which went out to friends of the LPGA Tour and LPGA members. Bloggers were not included.

While Commish Bivens clarifies several key points related to timing and the circumstances, I'm surprised she had to clarify the comments of Sue Winters as not being a put down of Michelle Wie (must have been a big part of the fan email?).

The fundamental question still has not been answered: why does the LPGA lack an official in the scoring tent like other
major tours?

Here's the letter, minus the fully branded e-stationary announcing a "A Message From Headquarters."

Carolyn F. Bivens
LPGA Commissioner 

July 23, 2008

Dear LPGA members:

Since the LPGA disqualified Michelle Wie from last weekend’s LPGA State Farm Classic for not signing her second-round scorecard, the LPGA has been the subject of countless feedback e-mails, blogs and phone calls to LPGA headquarters.  Many of these have had varying and inaccurate accounts of what happened and why the various steps were taken when.  All of this has confused and angered individuals, when in fact we enforced a very clear-cut rules infraction.  I also understand that many of you have experienced first-hand the emotion that this decision has created.

 With this in mind, I would like to share with you the details and timeline of the events relating to the rules decision so you will have all of the information relating to the events at the LPGA State Farm Classic, and be as informed as possible to share the information with anyone you may come across.

Timeline/details

Friday, July 18

-          After the second round, Michelle turned in her score card and left the roped scoring area without signing her card. A scoring volunteer noticed that the card was missing Michelle’s signature and caught up with her approximately 40 yards from the tent. The volunteer asked her to sign the card, which she did.

-          When LPGA Officials were verifying cards and scores on Friday evening, they had a fully signed card. They did not know that Michelle left the scoring area without signing her score card.  They had a signed card – for all players – and proceeded with the daily round verification.

Saturday, July 19

-          While the third round was underway – and all players were on the course -- an LPGA staff member overheard volunteers discussing the events from Friday re: Michelle’s card and the staff member asked the volunteers to recount the situation.  Realizing there was an issue, the staff member alerted an LPGA Official.  The LPGA Officials gathered the facts and interviewed various individuals – some of whom were onsite and some who were not working the event that day -- and all repo rted the same story.  LPGA Officials decided not to disrupt the pairing and determined they would speak with Michelle when she completed her round.  It was important to get Michelle’s side of the story, but interrupting the round would have impacted Michelle’s fellow competitors as well.  When the round was complete and she was advised of the situation, Michelle confirmed the details and the LPGA imposed the disqualification effective with the end of the second round.

-          LPGA Officials were in contact with the USGA as soon as the incident was reported. The on-site officials proceeded cautiously and correctly.

 Rules infraction

-          Rule 6-6b. – Signing and Returning Score Card governed the situation:  After completion of the round, the competitor should check his score for each hole and settle any doubtful points with the Committee.  He must ensure that the marker or markers have signed the score card, sign the score card himself a nd return it to the Committee as soon as possible.

-          The 2008 LPGA Rules of Play define the scoring area as the roped area defining the boundary of the scoring tent.  Supplementary rules of play stipulate that the scoring area boundary may instead be defined by a white line, which has the effect of decreasing the size of the scoring area.  The white line was not deemed necessary this week and was not put in place, and as a result the boundary is the scoring tent.  Prior to signing her card, Michelle left the defined scoring area.

I addition, there has been some misunderstanding about comments made by Sue Witters, LPGA director of tournament operations and the lead official in this situation.  The initial AP story that ran misquoted Sue. Acknowledging the error, the AP ran a corrected story.  However, for those who only viewed the original story, it is important to know Sue’s comments in the press conference were referencing her own emotion when she had to notify Michelle; the comments were not directed at or describing Michelle.  In fact, Sue represented the LPGA in a way that we can all be proud of. She handled the situation with the utmost care and attention.

In the end, we should all hold our head up high knowing that our organization upheld the rules of golf and administered them with Michelle the same way they have been applied to every player since the LPGA’s founding in 1950.  The rules are the rules.

Should you have any questions about this or need additional clarification, please let me know.


Best regards,

Carolyn F. Bivens

Let's not pat ourselves on the back too much here CB. This would not have happened on the PGA Tour. Where, incidentally Michelle will be teeing it up soon.

For the sake of golf fans in Detroit, they might want to hope it's a really good bottle of red. Because a PGA appearance would be four weeks in a row, and following four days (presumably) at The Broadmoor/altitude, so I'm going to guess Greg Norman is going to decline the PGA of America's invite to tee it up at Oakland Hills, especially reading his comments about all of his injury issues.

He may not look like an old man, but he's starting to talk like one.

Tim Dahlberg nails it with this point regarding Michelle Wie's latest sponsor's invite:

But Wie’s sponsors have a lot invested in her, and time is running out this year on them getting any returns for the $10 million they gave her to celebrate her 16th birthday. She has only one sponsor’s exemption left on the LPGA Tour, and if she doesn’t make $80,000 or so in the CN Canadian Women’s Open next month she would face having to go to qualifying school to try to get on the tour next year.

And she had better get on tour soon, because her novelty act has long since worn thin. Wie might some day be a fine player, but she is no longer a precocious child playing against grown-ups and she still has yet to win a tournament.

Joe Logan isn't too excited about the invite either. And this blog post lists the previous Wie debacles. Anyone excited about her appearance in Reno?

From Thomas Bonk's LATimes.com column, reporting on the 2008 British Open television ratings:

The overnight ratings for ABC's final round coverage Sunday fell 14.6%, from a 4.1 to a 3.5.

And this is surprising, particularly the dollar amount, which sounds awfully high.

The British Open will be an all-cable major beginning in 2010 and be carried only on ESPN, ending a 50-year association with ABC, according to SportsBusiness Journal. The seven-year deal is not yet finalized but reported to be around $25 million a year.

Thanks to reader Chris for Peter Dawson's post-Open thoughts, which include this regarding No. 17 green at Birkdale:

Whatever sympathy I had for Michelle Wie and her clan following the weekend DQ was lost with the announcement that she's going to play the Reno PGA Tour event. Doug Ferguson reports.

Coming off the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, I'm wondering if the R&A's lack of first round flexibility, along with the clear lack of planning during architectural alterations only makes the USGA's Mike Davis and PGA of America's Kerry Haigh look that much more shrewd when it comes to getting the most out of a course's architecture by varying tees. 

Or do such course setup contrivances only belong in America where we don't have the weather to liven things up, and where such variety delivers the surprise and spontaneity that is already inherent in links golf?

Personally, I don't see how you can ever go wrong mixing things up in a game that is entirely too predictable, even on the great links during a windy Open Championship.  I guess that's my nice way of telling architect Peter Dawson to throw in a few more tees next time he renovates a rota venue, especially on those into-the-wind par 5s they convert to 4s. (Well, but please, no more tees at St. Andrews.)

Phil and Amy Mickelson will be hosting an education-related town hall before Phil heads up the hill to testify at the request of Exxon-Mobil's lobbyists   Exxon Mobil's PR department  Congress. He will be talking about the state of math and science education in the United States.

"Amy and I are thrilled to be working with our partners to give teachers the tools they need to help improve math and science education in this country," said Phil Mickelson. "Through our series of Town Hall Forums, we can also raise awareness, focus attention and dedicate additional resources toward solving the growing crisis in math and science education."

Joining the Mickelsons on the panel will be Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum, president of Spelman College in Atlanta; Dr. Gerry Wheeler, executive director of the National Science Teachers Association; and James M. Rubillo, executive director of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Dr. Emlyn Koster, president and chief executive officer of the Liberty Science Center, will open the Town Hall Forum by addressing the important role science centers play in energizing young minds in math and science. Ken Cohen, vice president of public affairs with ExxonMobil, will moderate the panel and encourage additional discussion of key topics in math and science education.

By nearly all accounts the R&A/Martin Hawtree green installed at Royal Birkdale's 17th was out of character and disrespectful to Birkdale's architectural flow.

But did Padraig Harrington's final round eagle set up by a brilliant hybrid shot (and help from a brilliant bounce) save this green cause?

Since we're dealing with the stiffest of the stiff upper lips here, I'm voting that the green will not be touched between now and the next Open at Birkdale.

Thoughts?

I'll be on the road and checking in from a place where the Internet is better at night than during the day (yes, there are still places with connections like that). But it's awfully pretty and will be a great place for golf.

That said, I have several Open Championship issues that we must chew on, so it'll be a good week for posing questions and hearing what you all have to say.

Also, my web host Squarespace is uploading a new version of its software so the site will be down and possibly going through a few hiccups Sunday night into Monday morning. Apologies for any disruptions this might bring to your blog reading.

Perhaps everyone was just a bit worn out by four days of wind and cold, but the Monday filings struck me as a bit uninspired.

Or maybe after a week of good storylines and odd antics Sunday was just a nice, solid finish that warrants simple, respectful coverage. (Padraig Harrington photo to the left is courtesy of golf.com's final round gallery.)

Anyway, here goes...starting with the lede's from key papers:

Doug Ferguson for AP:

Turns out Padraig Harrington's wrist was strong enough to hit all the right shots in the British Open. Better yet, it was strong enough to lift the silver claret jug.

Lawrence Donegan filing for The Guardian:

On a day at Royal Birkdale when the game of golf never seemed tougher, the toughest competitor in the field prevailed to win his second successive Open championship.

James Corrigan in the Independent:

Budge over Tiger Woods, Tom Watson, Bobby Jones, Old Tom Morris and all you other legends on the Open Championship's top table. There is a new champion to join you in that exclusive club who have retained their title. Step forward, Padraig Harrington, the pride of all Ireland.

Mike Aitken writing for The Scotsman:

The first golfer from this side of the Atlantic to successfully defend the Open championship since James Braid last pulled off the feat at Muirfield in 1906, Padraig Harrington was acclaimed by history yesterday as Ireland's greatest ever golfer.

As for Harrington, the wrist was the story. Ryan Herrington talks to Bob Rotella who explains why Padraig's wrist injury was the best thing that happened to him last week. And as Steve Elling writes, Padraig completely agrees.

Jeff Babineau offers this Padraig backstory:

“I spend at least one session a day in the gym, every day, and I don’t enjoy doing that, but I do it because of the golf. I used to be a lot heavier than I am now; I would like to eat all the puddings and the pies, believe me. These are the sacrifices you’ve got to make, but the reason you do it is because you enjoy the end results, and you’re staying focused. It all leads to winning Open trophies.

An American friend who once stayed at Harrington’s spacious home in Dublin found himself wrestling with a six-hour time change, and unable to sleep, got out of bed in the middle of the night to check his emails. It was then he heard the loud, piercing thud of metal hitting something, as if some car accident had occurred nearby. The visitor then heard it again. And again. It was Harrington, who’d awoken with a new swing thought in mind, climbed out of bed, and was hitting balls.

“No, I don’t wake up in the night to hit balls,” Harrington said of his life these days. “But I have often snuck down there at 12 o’clock at night before I’ve gone to bed to hit golf balls. I did this wrist injury after winning a tournament last week. I did it at 10 o’clock at night hitting drivers.”

As for the Shark, Martin Johnson says Greg Norman beat himself.

"So, who do you think will win the Open with Tiger not playing?" It was a question everyone was asking before the tournament began, and if anyone had ventured: "How about a semi-retired 53-year-old, who squeezes in the odd round between business meetings, and has a severe history of choking," they'd have been quietly led away to one of those establishments where they take away your shoelaces and feed you with a plastic spoon.

It so nearly happened, but Greg Norman was undone by the man he has always feared most in the final round of a major championship. Himself. The Great White Shark has a history of turning into a fish finger when the pressure is on, and although old age is supposed to make you forgetful, Norman once again managed to remember how not to win from the front.

Damon Hack shares this Chrissy anecdote:

"Ready for a fun day?" Evert was asked by a reporter as they headed to the first tee.

"I don't know if fun's the word," she replied before disappearing into a gallery of thousands.

Tim Glover considers the epic week of amateur qualifier Chris Wood, silver medal winner and 5th place finisher did not get in the Masters, no matter how many times Tom Watson says it.

The celebrity and the attention will not go to Chris Wood's head. After all, his sister Abi, who is travelling in Europe, sent him a text at the weekend: "Are you at that Open thingy?" she asked. He most certainly was in that Open thing and the West Country was on high alert.

Peter Dixon calls the week "miraculous" and offers some numbers:

This was golf of the attritional variety, four days of it. Those wanting to see huge numbers of birdies and eagles at Royal Birkdale would have gone away disappointed, but they were not in the majority. In all, there were 12 eagles and 823 birdies, which compares with 5,015 pars, 2,310 bogeys and 391 double-bogeys or worse.

John Hopkins flips for this Open:

Unlike recent Sundays at the Masters, Sundays at the Open have been thrilling, drawn-out demonstrations of the virtues of this old game played out in front of the most knowledgeable spectators. This year's was not just thrilling, it was one of the most thrilling. There were so many players involved in the denouement. Throughout a long afternoon, when the wind was gusting up to 40mph, it seemed less like a golf tournament that had been founded deep in the recesses of the 19th century and more like a grand prix around, between, over and under the magnificent dunes of this famous course. At one point, there were 11 competitors within five strokes of the lead; later, there were ten within four. Rarely have so many disparate characters been involved.

John Huggan pens a column that I'll be taking issue with once the Open dust has settled.
 
Mike O'Malley compiles final round player reactions.

And finally, Clair Middtleton shares a note about Nick Faldo's "jibe" at Monty and shares this says-it-all item on the state of the R&A's priorities...

The chaps at Bentley will get a call from the R&A today when the term "ambush marketing" will be used. The Open has a lucrative deal with Lexus and officials were not best pleased to see a row of Bentleys being prominently displayed at Hillside golf club. "It's not the sort of thing one expects from a brand like that," sniffed an R&A spokesman.

 

 

Those stories about all of the other players can wait another day, well most of them. This is about the Shark and the potential for something truly amazing to happen. I like his chances, because as Brian Hewitt noted the other night on Golf Channel, this has been the summer of extraordinary sports stories, so why not one more?

Anyway, the Greg Norman stories, starting with Doug Ferguson:

This sounds familiar: Greg Norman goes to the final round of a major with the lead.

And, no, we're not talking about 1996.

Wow, forgot about that. Steve Elling writes:

If Norman gets it done at this age, at this stage, it would read like the greatest work of English fiction since Shakespeare was writing plays at the Globe Theater. All that remains to be seen is whether Sunday presents a comedy or tragedy for public consumption.

Paul Forsyth in The Times:

They were right when they said it wouldn’t be the same without Tiger Woods. It’s been even better, in a funny kind of way. Apart from a fading legend who refuses to see sense, and an Asian who is trying to become the continent’s first major winner, the defending champion is clinging for dear life to the Claret Jug. Add to that a leading Englishman who isn’t even the most famous sportsman in his family, and this 137th Open Championship has had just about everything.

John Huggan offers this, along with some thoughts on Norman's legacy from Jack Newton:

In an often one-dimensional world where the vast majority of tournament professionals have the imagination and individuality of the average lemming, Norman provided a tantalising glimpse of days gone by with some beautifully crafted shots. His control of trajectory and distance in what were extremely trying conditions was at times the equivalent of a post-graduate thesis written amidst primary school pupils content to colour between the lines. The little punches under a wind that gusted to 35mph were a particular joy.

Larry Dorman's lede in the New York Times:

The last time a golfer did what Greg Norman has a chance to do in the British Open, this name was Old Tom and the American Civil War had recently ended.

Damon Hack shares this from Nick Faldo:

"How come he still has that putting stroke at 53?" Faldo asked. "Where's the fairness in life?"

John Hopkins likes Norman's chances in this analysis:

First and foremost he is a superb athlete. He has, as Justin Rose said on Friday, "the body of a 23-year-old and the mind of a 53-year-old." He won't suffer from fatigue. Second, he is a magnificent striker of the ball, one of the best drivers the game has seen in recent years. On top of this he is excellent in bad weather. It is as if the wind has to be blowing hard and there to be a hint of rain in the air for Norman to come into his own. "Greg Norman is the best bad weather player I have ever seen," Tom Watson, the five-times Open champion said.

Jaime Diaz fleshes out the Linn Strickler story and shares this:

Taking a break from a year of short-term gigs for players like Robert Gamez, Tommy Armour III and Phil Blackmar, Strickler was "raking traps for 150-handicappers" this spring at posh Sebonack Golf Club in Long Island.

One day in May, "Today" show host Matt Lauer showed up with a guest, his good friend Greg Norman. Strickler had caddied for Norman in practice rounds a couple of times in the early '90s when filling in for Bruce Edwards, but he was surprised when Norman started inquiring about his availability.

"I'm holding my sand-divot filler and my rangefinder, and the Shark asks me if I want to caddie for him at the British," said Strickler. "When he wondered if the club would let me go, I said, 'I don't care if they let me go or not. I'm going.' "

Alistair Tait wonders if Norman is producing the greatest golf fairy tale story ever, and though that seems a bit excessive, as Tait notes, "Norman plays more tennis these days than he does golf."

Bill Elliott in The Guardian says it'll be the greatest Open win ever.

Michael Buteau writes that "Greg Norman has been in this position seven times before and managed to win once."

Mike O'Malley lists key player reactions, documents Saturday's tweaks to the course setup and looks at the long wait on No. 10 tee which prompts the question, do they not have the ability to throw a little water on them?

Rickman, asked whether officials were considering suspending play, said, "It's difficult; it's a judgment call. . . . Mainly based on the greens. They've dried out in the sun, and if we get situations where we get balls consistently moving, are not staying where they came to rest or players can't replace them having marked, lifted and cleaned, then they would be indicating signs that if they became consistent problems then we would have to suspend play."

Kim wasn't the only player experiencing difficulty on Saturday. Part of the backup came when Simon Wakefield, who shot a 70 and is three strokes out of the lead, watched his sand-wedge approach to the eighth hole finish off the green, only to see the wind move the ball. "The wind blew it three or four inches onto the green, so I was obviously able to mark it but then was not comfortable with playing the putt or hitting the putt because we were getting gusts," Wakefield said, concerned that the ball would move after he addressed it. "I spoke to one of the referees who called in, and they had had the same situation on the 10th, so we just sort of hung on and basically waited for the wind to die down."

Geoff Ogilvy writes about four holes that might make a difference in Sunday's final round, including No. 17 where the green is "pure Disneyland."

John Barton says the bookies like Padraig and lists the odds of other contenders.  Gary Van Sickle likes K.J. Choi. 

Bob Harig tells us who the heck Simon Wakefield is.

Michael Bamberger on what joy he's getting out of reading the local papers.

John Garrity talks to Davis Love about Kenny Perry and player who pass on the Open.

“I’ve got myself in trouble over the years chastising players,” Love told reporters behind the 18th green. “If you don’t want to come, don’t come. Kenny Perry is a great friend of mine, a great guy and a great Christian, and he’s doing what he wants to do, and he’s not complaining. That’s the way to do it. If you don’t like it, don’t come. If you don’t like the Masters, don’t play."

An unbylined Daily Mail story catches up with Seve Ballesteros:

Ballesteros, troubled by back problems and a serious lack of form, said from his home in the village of Pedrena, northern Spain: 'Birkdale was where my name started to be popular and I can't explain all the feelings I keep in my heart of that time. But I wasn't tempted to come back.

'Everyone knows that I have retired for good. I will watch on TV and avoid yearning for the past. I won't ever play again in a major championship or on the Seniors Tour. When a player like myself quits competitive golf, he is gone for good. To participate as any other player does not appeal to me.'

And finally, ESPN posts the video of Rick Reilly's enjoyable end-of-telecast essay from Saturday's ESPN on ABC commercialfest.

 

This just looks awful for the LPGA more than Michelle Wie or the Rules of Golf.

How do not have an official from the Tour doing scorecards and preventing this?

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.

Wie said that after she finished her round on Friday, she left the tent where players sign their scorecards and was chased down by some of the tournament volunteers working in the tent who pointed out she hadn't signed.

Wie returned to the tent and signed the card.

"I thought it would be OK," she said.

But Wie, according to Witters, had already walked outside the roped-off area around the tent. At that point, the mistake was final.

Are you kidding me? No...

According to the LPGA statement, LPGA rules dictate that the scoring area is the roped area defining the boundary of the scoring tent.

The area may also be marked by a white line, which has the effect of decreasing the size of the scoring area. At the State Farm Classic, the white line wasn't deemed necessary and as a result, the scoring area was the tent.

Witters said she and other tour officials didn't learn about the error from volunteers until well after Wie teed off Saturday. They let her finish the round, then took her to the office where she and her caddy, Tim Vickers, were informed of the ruling.

Wie, who is playing a part-time schedule while attending Stanford, opened with a 5-under 67 and followed with rounds of 65 and 67 -- though the last two won't count.

Can Norman do this? Your predictions please.

There's a story book feel about this one, so why not go to the tabloids for our top game story? Dave Armitage of the Daily Star sums up the wild possibilities unfolding at Birkdale and like any good rag reporter, focuses on the Norman-Evert pairing.

And speaking of tabloid fodder, check out ESPN.com's photo gallery. Image one is Chrissy greeting Greg at 18 and you can get a nice look at the rock on her left hand. It looks heavier than the Claret Jug.

Lawrence Donegan noted that after the round, Norman sounded "like a love-struck teenager" and can you blame him after hearing this comment to television:

“It’s hard to find her (in the crowd), everybody either wears black raingear or navy raingear.  She’s a competitor, she really feels every shot, she plays every shot with me and she walks every shot.  I think she’s blended in well.  I think she’s accepted that this is different grass, it’s not Wimbledon grass underneath (her feet), it’s British Open grass and it’s an adjustment for her and she’s handled it very, very well.”

Neil Squires talks to Norman caddy and grizzled vet of looping lore Linn Strickler.

Strickler, having seen all of Norman’s 140 shots so far, including the delicious curving putt from off the green at the last which secured another level-par 70 and brought the house down, had only one explanation.

“I caddied for him a couple of times in the Eighties and nothing seems to have changed. He has still got it. This is HG Wells,” said Strickler.

Steve Elling on Norman:

Which might, or might not, include being on parade before the world golf press for the first time in a while. Norman brought down the house when he was jokingly asked whether he was trying to make up ground on Evert, who collected 16 more major championships in women's tennis than he has in golf.

Friday felt like old times in so many ways, Norman had to laugh. He was even asked if, given his admittedly low expectations entering the tournament, if he had made "alternate plans" for the weekend, since few in the media fancied his chances of surviving the cut.

"Boy, I missed you guys," he cracked.

Bob Harig cuts through all the Greg and Chrissy talk and asks the tough questions.

Can he really pull this off?

Conventional wisdom and a dose of common sense suggest the task is impossible. Debating England's aversion to ice might make for a better discussion than the ridiculous notion of Norman's contending again.

The man has more scar tissue in major championships than any player, dead or alive, with playoff losses in each of the four Grand Slam events being just the beginning. But here he is, after a second straight 70 at Royal Birkdale, a shot out of the lead at the Open Championship through 36 holes.

At age 53.

Nine years removed from the last time he threatened at a major championship.

Eleven years after his last PGA Tour victory.

I'd say that's a big no.

Tim Rosaforte writes of Greg and Camillo's bond, one of Greg's many mentoring relationships with young players.

36-hole leader K.J. Choi is going to be patient, reports Mark-Lamport Stokes. Meanwhile, punters beware, John Hopkins says put your money on Choi. And speaking of patient and flying under the radar, David Dusek profiles Jim Furyk quietly lurking at +2 despite 66 putts over the first two rounds.

Golfweek's Jeff Babineau looks at Rocco:

He is enjoying the sudden rocket boost in his career thanks to the timely work of two people: Instructor Jimmy Ballard, a master of bad backs and the golf swing, and physio Cindi Hilfman, who is a master of the body and has been pivotal in helping him with his ailing back. Any time Mediate feels healthy and gets to a place where par carries great value, like at Birkdale, where winds have gusted past 25 mph the last two days and could reach gale-force levels on Saturday, he likes his chances. Certainly his mind is in a good, comfortable place.

Even if looking back at Torrey Pines leaves him a tad dizzy.

“I still don’t even know what the hell happened,” he said. “I haven’t sat down and thought about it yet. I can’t believe that that was me who was the other guy. I really can’t believe it. Hard to believe. It was the coolest moment. I’d like to have another one of those soon.”

Jaime Diaz offers an interesting