News

Wie's Disqualification

July 23, 2008

Michael Auerbach of Phoenix, Maryland, doesn't blame Michelle Wie for her disqualification at the State Farm. How, he says, could the scoring officials let this happen? He brings up the disqualification of Jesper Parnevik and Mark Roe at the 2003 British Open for forgetting to exchange cards. Peter Dougherty of the Albany Times-Union makes the same connection today. But while Dougherty concludes, "rules are rules", reader Auerbach comes to a different conclusion:

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In the wake of the Wie disqualification I am reminded by the golfer in the top three after 54 holes of the British open who was disqualified because his scores were kept on Jesper Parnevik's card. Those in the scoring tent having nothing to do but accept and check cards. Their job requires only marginal skill and it should be their responsibility to insure that horror stories like that which just occurred on the LPGA tour are obviated. The Britisher's career never recovered from the draconian decision by the R & A to uphold the disqualification when it was abundantly clear there was no intent to do wrong and no one knows the emotional impact this utterly ridiculous edict will have on an already emotionally scarred child. The golf score card is not holy. It should be the responsibility of those in the scorers tent, to make sure what has become a holy grail, is accurate so the now frighteningly dwindling golf audience can be spared the repugnance that occurred, yet again, last Saturday.

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Mike, I agree that if I'm the tournament director of the State Fame Classic I'm pulling my hair out over this one. That's the scorers team's job: Don't let there be a screw-up! That said, anyone who's ever played in an event knows that job 1 is to keep the fellow competitor's score and one's own and the minute you finish to get it checked, signed and submitted. It's like counting your clubs on the first tee. In this case, there's plenty of blame to go around. But it begins with the player, whether it's Wie or anyone else. Good post here by lpgahf9 on the subject here.

--Bob Carney