By Robert H. KellyCopyright 2008 TexSport Publications
HOUSTON, TEXAS (July 19, 2008) As many people who follow golf (and some that do not) Michelle Wie’s career has really hit rock bottom. The one-time teen prodigy has fallen off the map in competitive women's golf.
Saturday Wie completed her best round of the season shooting a 5 under 67 at the State Farm Classic. That score would have put her in second place at the tournament. Even on the one day of the year that Wie managed to play well she still managed to find disaster.
Wie forgot to sign her scorecard. She was disqualified from the tournament by the LPGA. The now 18-year-old Wie was seen crying after the disqualification.
I do not understand how athletes like Wie make such simple mistakes which cost them dearly. With all the money Wie makes from endorsements and prize money, she should be able to hire someone to be with her at all times to ensure she does not make said mistakes.
Call it a "handler" if you must; a person who looks after the needs, wants, and desires of the athlete. A person who makes sure that athletes does exactly what he/she is suppose to. A person to oversee all the small details that the athlete may overlook.
Perhaps it has to do with the young age at which some of these prodigies come to fame. Perhaps it is the attitude that some of those under 30 have about their success. One can look at Miley Cyrus. An All-American girl who was on the top of the world. Then photos surface showing her in compromising positions, for which she was taken to task by the media.
Of course, Ms. Wie's mistake is nothing compared to Cyrus'. Wie mistake was a honest omission of a rule that she had to be disqualified for.
The point I am making it that these stars need to be more careful in what they do and what they do not do. With their money, they can well afford to hire a room full of people to take care of their needs.
On a simpler note, why didn't her caddy say something about signing the scorecard? Some may say that is not his/her job, but Wie, as their employer could make it their job.
If I for one had a child who was as talented and girted as Ms. Wie, I would certainly make sure all the little things were taken care of. My dear departed father used to say, "Take care of the little things. Make sure you have crossed your "T"s and dotted your "I"s. Make sure all the paperwork is done."
I used to laugh at him when he said that, but I realized many years later, he was right. If a job is worth doing it is worth doing right and to completion.
Michelle Wie had finished the round and was done for the day; or so she thought. All she had to do was sign the scorecard. In reality, her day was not done, because she did nolt dot her 'I' and finish her paperwork.
This was a hard lesson, and I hope she has learned from it. But I will not be surprised if she hasn't. After all, the youth of today have a mind of their own, and many can only learn from experience.
In closing, there was no reason for this to happen. No reason at all. Ms. Wie is a professional and a profession always takes care of business. At least they should take care of business. After all, they are professionals.
6 comments:
You should get your facts straight before you write a column like this. Michelle had a 65 on Friday which ties the low round of her career set at the Samsung event in 2005.
The facts are apparently these: she left the tent without signing, which is technically OK, because she can come back and sign, although there is some sort of time limit. However, some tournament employee ran the card out to her wherever she was, and she signed it, but outside the tent. That's a violation of LPGA rules (apparently well known to everyone who plays the tour regularly) and the penalty is DQ.
Wie was apparently petulant and critical of the tournament staff for, as she put it, encouraging her to do something that resulted in a DQ. She also complained that she didn't know the rules and should be treated differently because she's not a tour member.
Wow. No wonder the rest of the tour thinks so poorly of her.
This article hit the nail on the head. What an idiot. Wie is a total joke right now, and even the LPGA is treating her as such:
"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."
That last line tells you the respect the LPGA has for Wie.
She had better grow up FAST if she want to make up any lost ground.
Amazing...let's not mince words. She is a cheater. If she did not call a violation on herself, she must not have known the rule of not leaving the scoring tent without signing. How far did she think she could go without signing? Does she think she could've gone back to the hotel and come back? Give me a break - she knows she violated a rule and was trying to get away with it. If she's not sure, she should confirm it. It's just like the drop she got DQ'd for - trying to get away with something.
The Wie-bashers are crawling from under the rocks all over the place. Has anybody stopped to wonder if this was a "convenient" oversight for the "volunteer" who took the card, the reporter who very diligently aproached the officials, and/or one or more of the officials themselves? Or even worse some of them or all of them in collusion? Remember Basketball. Most of the time the rot eats from inside out. The girl comes from playing 18 exhausting holes, under stressful circumstances. Who knows what was the atmosphere inside the signing tent? Why didn't the "volunteer" notice the card was unsigned as she handled it over and point it out to her before she stood up? How soon did they discover that the card was unsigned? Why are "volunteers" handling such an important facet of the game instead of employed officials? Why took them so long to contact her and make their ruling before she started play on Saturday? Doesn't it sound like they were more interested in milking her marketability one more day than in enforcing the rules? I suggest a thorough investigation is in order. You know? They take bets at golf too. I wonder...
So shut up Wie-bashers and crawl back to where you came from.
You have to wonder if she is a victim of the Judas Syndrome or is simply reliving "The Seven Lean Years" that the great Bobby Jones suffered through.
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