Wie Allowed To Finish Round Before Being DQ'd
/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.Are you kidding me? No...
"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.
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.