Michelle Wie - What are you thinking?

[MWM]

Just when all signs are pointing to her maturing and becoming more level-headed and just one of the girls, she goes and whines and whines and whines to the officials who obviously made the right ruling.

I'm rooting for Michelle in a big way. But she came across VERY badly in that back and forth with the rules officials. I thought she was never going to shut up.

[Sea Ray]

Originally Posted by MWM

Just when all signs are pointing to her maturing and becoming more level-headed and just one of the girls, she goes and whines and whines and whines to the officials who obviously made the right ruling.

I'm rooting for Michelle in a big way. But she came across VERY badly in that back and forth with the rules officials. I thought she was never going to shut up.

I'm admittedly not much of a golf fan. What was her deal?

[bucksfan2]

Here is what happen.

Wie was in a water hazard and attempted to play out of it. If you don't know you are not allowed to ground the club when you are in a hazard. Wie hit the ball out of the water but the ball stayed inside of the water hazard boundary. After she hit the ball she allowed the club to come to rest on the ground. This is a penalty because she still has to play a shot from the hazard. After she was told there would be a 2 stroke penalty she spent time arguing with a rules official saying that she set her club down on the ground for balance, which was obvious a lie.

[Bumstead]

And yet she gained no advantage by grounding the club where she did...she basically set it on the ground after the shot; whether she was losing her balance or not is debatable but none of us were in her position at the time. I understand that is the rule, but to suggest she gained some advantage or that she attempted to cheat (she called the rules official over to begin with) would be less than accurate.

Bum

[bucksfan2]

Originally Posted by Bumstead

And yet she gained no advantage by grounding the club where she did...she basically set it on the ground after the shot; whether she was losing her balance or not is debatable but none of us were in her position at the time. I understand that is the rule, but to suggest she gained some advantage or that she attempted to cheat (she called the rules official over to begin with) would be less than accurate.

Bum

Whether or not you agree with it, its still a rule. She broke the rule and then tried to say she was using the club for balance.

Any golfer should know that if you are in a bunker you need to be extra careful about grounding your club. It was a situation in which Wie's lack of focus caused her 2 strokes. Any golfer that has played competitively has had a stupid penalty called on them. It is just the nature of the game.

[Bumstead]

Just said she didn't gain an advantage by grounding the club and wanted to point out that she is the one that called the rules official over. Prior, this post had been made to look like she tried to get away with something when that really wasn't the case at all. As a rank amateur, I don't spend a lot of time worrying about these types of rules but I do understand that the rules exist and must be followed by the professionals.

Wie is still young and a little childish at times, but her talent is tremendous and I hope she realizes it as her career unfolds.

bum

[Sea Ray]

I play a little bit of golf but I still can't seem to grasp what "grounding the club" is.

[Bumstead]

Originally Posted by Sea Ray

I play a little bit of golf but I still can't seem to grasp what "grounding the club" is.

I believe it is putting the face of your club on the ground in the hazard before or after playing the shot.

[bucksfan2]

Originally Posted by Bumstead

I believe it is putting the face of your club on the ground in the hazard before or after playing the shot.

Its placing your club on the ground while your ball is in the hazard. In the situation above if Wie's ball had traveled another yard or two and gotten out of the hazard this wouldn't have been an issue.

[MWM]

The worst part was that she would not let it go. She continued on and on and on with the officials. And she was doing it in a very whiny way. She came across as a spoiled brat who couldn't handle that she wasn't getting her way. She should have just expressed her opinion and then moved on.

[Bumstead]

Originally Posted by MWM

The worst part was that she would not let it go. She continued on and on and on with the officials. And she was doing it in a very whiny way. She came across as a spoiled brat who couldn't handle that she wasn't getting her way. She should have just expressed her opinion and then moved on.

uh...she is a spoiled brat...who else gets carted around the world at age 14 to play golf? She's still young, there's still time for her to grow out of it.

[MWM]

Originally Posted by Bumstead

uh...she is a spoiled brat...who else gets carted around the world at age 14 to play golf? She's still young, there's still time for her to grow out of it.

That's my point. It looked like she had almost completely grown out of the "center of the world" mentality. Interviews with her last year showed a mature young woman who had moved past some of the immature antics that would come from someone thrust into the spotlight at such a young age. She seemed to have finally "got it". I never blamed Michelle for what she had to deal with and for being the way she was as a teenager.

But I can't think of any other lady golfer who would have acted the way she did. I'm sure she'll be fine and this will be a learning experience. One of her earlier challenges was that she had alienated so many of her fellow LPGA golfers with her entitlement attitude. This incident will probably do more to alienate her from the other ladies.

But make no mistake, I'm a huge Michelle Wie fan. I watch the LPGA when she's on and I root like crazy for her. She's a unique talent who could break every record in the book if she can get things right upstairs.

[GIDP]

I forgive her

[Deepred05]

Originally Posted by bucksfan2

Here is what happen.

Wie was in a water hazard and attempted to play out of it. If you don't know you are not allowed to ground the club when you are in a hazard. Wie hit the ball out of the water but the ball stayed inside of the water hazard boundary. After she hit the ball she allowed the club to come to rest on the ground. This is a penalty because she still has to play a shot from the hazard. After she was told there would be a 2 stroke penalty she spent time arguing with a rules official saying that she set her club down on the ground for balance, which was obvious a lie.

Does that penalty pertain to hazards only or is it a stroke if you let the club hit anywhere on the course?

[Deepred05]

Originally Posted by Bumstead

uh...she is a spoiled brat...who else gets carted around the world at age 14 to play golf? She's still young, there's still time for her to grow out of it.

I don't know about that brother. I met her on a local course here a couple of months ago and she seemed like a nice kid. At least she was that day, treating the staff and us yokels with respect.