Wie's Latest Brush With The Rules
/This time she gets a two-stroke penalty:
The 16-year-old Wie made contact while hitting out of a greenside bunker at the 14th hole. The sand clearly moved, and the incident was picked up by TV cameras and tournament officials.
Wie didn't know about the penalty until she reached the recorders' office after her round at Royal Lytham. What she thought was an even-par round of 72 was switched to a 74, leaving her at 4-over for two rounds.
"There was a piece of moss right behind my ball," Wie said. "I knew I hit it but I didn't think it would result in a penalty of two strokes. I thought if you hit dirt it would be OK, but I guess I knew the rule wrong.""A stroke is the forward movement of the club, a backswing is not part of the stroke, hence a 2-stroke penalty was incurred," the statement said.
A statement by the Ladies Golf Union said Wie broke rule 13-4 of the Rules of Golf, which prohibits touching the ground in a bunker prior to making a stroke.