A lot of ink has been spilled on Michelle Wie's bogus withdrawal from the Ginn Tribute, including two posts in this space - though I at least can fall back on the record of never having felt the need to write about Wiesy until yesterday. So I think two blogs, now make it three, is ok. I simply reached my tipping point yesterday with Wie.
(The two or three readers of this blog will also know that I've hammered on Sergio Garcia, the PGA Tour's unfulfilled promise of a player, so it's not like I'm bashing only one player. I've also been known to lay into Billy Mayfair.)
Some readers have chimed in with some new details to this train wreck of a story.
1. Michelle Wie's manager was spotted on the golf course on his mobile phone, specifically inquiring about the scope of the LPGA's 88 rule.
2. What's more, a tournament official, says another reader, was giving journos a run down of the 88 rule in the media tent, and then promptly went out to the course to address the matter with the Wie Machine.
All this mind you before Wie decides to walk off the course.
Wie was at the tournament on the invite of Annika Sorenstam. This is her tournament, and the galleries that turned out to follow Wie were, if nothing else, a boon to it. What did Sorenstam have to say about Wie's withdrawal? Squat.
"With this tournament having your name on it, obviously you want to have the best field here. What are your thoughts on Michelle withdrawing," a reporter asked her.
"I just heard it outside. Why did she withdraw," Sorenstam replied.
"Her wrist."
"Well, that's a bummer. I'm sorry for her. You know, that cannot be fun. I know what it's like to have an injury. I guess mine healed better than hers."
I feel sorry for the golfer who did not get a sponsors exemption to the Ginn because it was given to Wie. My colleague Chris Baldwin has got it right: Wie is an embarrassment to the LPGA Tour.
Some readers have chimed in saying Wie only did what that fat joke John Daly has been doing on the men's side for what seems like years now. Maybe (though in Daly's defense, he's often not afraid to post huge, huge numbers. Missing cuts gets him back to the trailer quicker).
For me, she just pulled a Billy Casper. Remember this one? The golf great opts for a no-card and disqualified himself at the 2005 Masters instead of posting what would have been a Masters record 34-over-par 106.
In a similar way, Wie's withdrawal assures that her abysmal 14-over-par (through 16 holes!) round will never show up on the tournament's rolls. It's like it never happened, although we know it did.
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