Wednesday
Jul232008
"The rules are the rules."
Thanks to the reader who forwarded this letter from the Brand Lady regarding the most recent Michelle Wie incident, which went out to friends of the LPGA Tour and LPGA members. Bloggers were not included.
While Commish Bivens clarifies several key points related to timing and the circumstances, I'm surprised she had to clarify the comments of Sue Winters as not being a put down of Michelle Wie (must have been a big part of the fan email?).The fundamental question still has not been answered: why does the LPGA lack an official in the scoring tent like other
major tours?
Here's the letter, minus the fully branded e-stationary announcing a "A Message From Headquarters."
Carolyn F. BivensLet's not pat ourselves on the back too much here CB. This would not have happened on the PGA Tour. Where, incidentally Michelle will be teeing it up soon.
LPGA Commissioner
July 23, 2008
Dear LPGA members:
Since the LPGA disqualified Michelle Wie from last weekend’s LPGA State Farm Classic for not signing her second-round scorecard, the LPGA has been the subject of countless feedback e-mails, blogs and phone calls to LPGA headquarters. Many of these have had varying and inaccurate accounts of what happened and why the various steps were taken when. All of this has confused and angered individuals, when in fact we enforced a very clear-cut rules infraction. I also understand that many of you have experienced first-hand the emotion that this decision has created.
With this in mind, I would like to share with you the details and timeline of the events relating to the rules decision so you will have all of the information relating to the events at the LPGA State Farm Classic, and be as informed as possible to share the information with anyone you may come across.
Timeline/details
Friday, July 18
- After the second round, Michelle turned in her score card and left the roped scoring area without signing her card. A scoring volunteer noticed that the card was missing Michelle’s signature and caught up with her approximately 40 yards from the tent. The volunteer asked her to sign the card, which she did.
- When LPGA Officials were verifying cards and scores on Friday evening, they had a fully signed card. They did not know that Michelle left the scoring area without signing her score card. They had a signed card – for all players – and proceeded with the daily round verification.
Saturday, July 19
- While the third round was underway – and all players were on the course -- an LPGA staff member overheard volunteers discussing the events from Friday re: Michelle’s card and the staff member asked the volunteers to recount the situation. Realizing there was an issue, the staff member alerted an LPGA Official. The LPGA Officials gathered the facts and interviewed various individuals – some of whom were onsite and some who were not working the event that day -- and all repo rted the same story. LPGA Officials decided not to disrupt the pairing and determined they would speak with Michelle when she completed her round. It was important to get Michelle’s side of the story, but interrupting the round would have impacted Michelle’s fellow competitors as well. When the round was complete and she was advised of the situation, Michelle confirmed the details and the LPGA imposed the disqualification effective with the end of the second round.
- LPGA Officials were in contact with the USGA as soon as the incident was reported. The on-site officials proceeded cautiously and correctly.
Rules infraction
- Rule 6-6b. – Signing and Returning Score Card governed the situation: After completion of the round, the competitor should check his score for each hole and settle any doubtful points with the Committee. He must ensure that the marker or markers have signed the score card, sign the score card himself a nd return it to the Committee as soon as possible.
- The 2008 LPGA Rules of Play define the scoring area as the roped area defining the boundary of the scoring tent. Supplementary rules of play stipulate that the scoring area boundary may instead be defined by a white line, which has the effect of decreasing the size of the scoring area. The white line was not deemed necessary this week and was not put in place, and as a result the boundary is the scoring tent. Prior to signing her card, Michelle left the defined scoring area.
I addition, there has been some misunderstanding about comments made by Sue Witters, LPGA director of tournament operations and the lead official in this situation. The initial AP story that ran misquoted Sue. Acknowledging the error, the AP ran a corrected story. However, for those who only viewed the original story, it is important to know Sue’s comments in the press conference were referencing her own emotion when she had to notify Michelle; the comments were not directed at or describing Michelle. In fact, Sue represented the LPGA in a way that we can all be proud of. She handled the situation with the utmost care and attention.
In the end, we should all hold our head up high knowing that our organization upheld the rules of golf and administered them with Michelle the same way they have been applied to every player since the LPGA’s founding in 1950. The rules are the rules.
Should you have any questions about this or need additional clarification, please let me know.
Best regards,
Carolyn F. Bivens
Wednesday, July 23, 2008 at 08:10 PM
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Reader Comments (28)
Sergio gets DQed on PGA Tour. Shac, they have this thing called Google................
The PGA Championship is run by the PGA of America, not the PGA Tour so this is not a good example.
Besides, Sergio signed his card, he signed for a wrong score.
That being said, it does happen on the PGA Tour, but usually it is a player, who like Sergio, is upset about his round and just drops the card and walks out.
Clearly this rule does not apply to her.
She is Michelle Wie afterall. :)
The question to CB, what would have happened if the rules violation had not been discovered until Monday?
But come on, some of these rules are just stupid.
Yes, Wie was stupid, too. Forgetting to sign the card is something a kid does, and perhaps she was unaware of the rule about leaving the scoring area, again her fault.
But why should it be a disqualification for leaving the scoring area, and coming back later to properly sign a correct scorecard? What if you become nauseated in the scoring tent? Is it alright to step outside and vomit, and then return, or should you just vomit right there on the scorer's table?
The reason for signing the card is to ensure that people are honest and take responsibility for their scores. The scoring area was created to facilitate this process, not add a layer of silly Draconian penalties.
Many of golf's rules allow one to "atone" by correcting the error before some critical time, such as before teeing off on the next hole, etc. I think correcting an innocent error like this, before the last player has finished and all cards are turned in, is certainly reasonable.
You should be honest, you should play the game by the rules, you should be accountable. You should not be disqualified because you had an airhead moment and walked out of the scoring tent without signing the card.
This is not a stupid rule. What if you have "an airhead moment", become nauseated, wobble around and step on and move your ball? No harm no foul? No. Rule violated. Penalty incurred. Black and white.
Rules need hard and fast lines of demarcation, this has one. Violation? Penalty incurred, period. Jesus, how many special treatments does this not so stupid girl need?
Example: Casey Martin and carts did not have a hard and fast rule because the PGATour had already allowed the old farts to use carts; if they hadn't they would not have had the battle they did, no matter how deserving and courageous Casey Martin was is or ever will be. Michelle Wie is no Casey Martin you say?
OK, again, on face value:
In this case, there is a clearly defined rule and it was violated. Cutting corners and making exceptions has become the American way and she by those criteria "Deserves a break."
NO SHE DOESN'T!
Show up, play by the rules, go home. Repeat every day of tournament. Very simple. The rules of golf work, we're talking professionals here. Oh wait, professionals don't know the rules. Somehow they remember not to practice putt in a Tour sponsored round and remember that they are allowed to practice putt in a USGA event (D-oH local rule, get it?) under the correct circumstances.
Call it very similar to defining the scoring area, recognizing it and following the needed criteria set for EVERYONE.
How much help does this girl need? Criticising Carolyn Bivens ain't the answer, Michell Wie shaping up IS.
Furthermore, if she left the grounds or property but a few feet away seems very petty.
Traveler was not arguing she shouldn't have been penalized for violating the rule, he was arguing that it is a stupid rule. Sure, rules need hard and fast lines, the argument is that the current line is foolishly placed and it should be in a different place. I agree.
Earlier this year, a PGA Professional was penalized when his caddie raked a fairway bunker after the player hit his shot. Unfortunately for the player, his ball was in a greenside bunker. Under the rules in place at the time, the player was penalized because his caddie's actions were considered "testing" the hazard.
What did the USGA do, they changed the rule. Why? Because it was a dumb rule.
Under the rules in place, Wie deserved to be DQ'd (and she doesn't dispute that fact). Nevertheless, it is a dumb rule that serves no purpose and should be changed.
I'll pray an extra rosary for each of you tonight, but not for Miss Michelle. She gets paid very well to do what she does. She ought to be able to do what she is required to do and then you saws and hammers won't need to make excuses for her.
Now smile and make kissie-kiss.
The purpose of a golf tournament is to see who's the best. The purpose of scorecards and every rule in the book is to protect the competition so that, as much as possible, you have a fair winner.
The only reason you sign scorecards is to make sure the committee gets the score right, and that the player and his/her marker are held accountable for any errors. The only reason you have a scoring tent is to try to make this process easier, better, more fair.
If you ask me, this is a case where the rules did a disservice to the game and the tournament, because a player in contention was denied the chance to compete for the win on a trivial technicality.
As others have said in defending my post, I wasn't saying she shouldn't have been dq'd, or that it wasn't her fault. I'm saying the rule is stupid.
Rules are changed all the time in golf. And in life.
Grow up, Curmudgeon.
If the LPGA may be technically correct in DQing Wie, it should at least agree to review and amend the rule. Let us not forget that the wonderfully progressive R&A modified a rule after the Parnevik/Roe debacle at the 2003 Open.
The LPGA needs to wind its neck in and realise that it womens' golf is still an emerging sport.
Do you think the signed-scorecard rule is a good rule for top-level professional tournaments? Do you think the penalty should be automatic disqualification? Why or why not?
Thanks.
The Rules of Golf seek to eliminate as many "grey areas" as possible, and any possible rules revisions I've seen introduce grey areas.
So I disagree that it's a stupid rule. I agree that the LPGA failed its fans and its players by not having an official in the tent.
This is pretty simple, it's black and white.
To that end, where should the new line be drawn? Remember teh rule must work for local Muni junior tournamnets all teh way to the Open Championship and the rule must be black and white to be a good rule.
Where should the new line be?
If you don't like my "style" look past it.
What are we trying to protect? The integrity of the scoring. The real transgression, the biggie that really deserves disqualification, is submitting an incorrect score. The signature is necessary, yes, but only as a safeguard to prevent a player from claiming it's the marker's fault, but I maintain that forgetting to sign a correct card is not the same thing as signing an incorrect card. This area is where I'd argue that yes, some leniency or other safeguard is necessary.
Erik probably has the best idea. I think if the dq penalty is to apply to failing to sign your card before you leave the tent, just as one is penalized for signing an incorrect card, then a tournament official should receive all scorecards in person, hopefully to catch errors like this one. I don't think this is whining, or abdicating responsibility, or compromising character, or whatever else people like to get upset about in rules matters such as this. It's just the right thing to do. It is considered good etiquette and sportsmanship in golf to, for example, alert your playing partner or even your opponent that he/she is about to violate the rules. In this same spirit of sportsmanchip and etiquette, is it too much to ask to have someone there in the tent to help make sure you don't do something fatally stupid with your scorecard? Isn't it in the same spirit of fair play? Don't we want the best player to win, and to have an accurate record of all the scores?
Another way to build enough flexibility into the rule to allow for situations like this to be corrected would be to amend the rule to read that a player is deemed to have submitted his final scorecard when it is completed, _signed_, and submitted to the committee. A separate paragraph or corollary could be written to deal with the issue of an unsigned card...perhaps that any player who submits an unsigned card must correct his/her error before play begins on the subsequent round, or within a reasonable time after conclusion of play in the final round, or be disqualified.
There was a reason Bob Jones et al spent so much time trying to figure out a way for DiVicenzo to get his tie in that Masters. Because he wanted the player who earns something to get what they earned, and not lose it on a technicality.
There is nothing wrong with learning from a situation such as this and trying to prevent it from happening again. I think it's a good deal more in keeping with the tradition of fairness and integrity in golf to do so, rather than to take some sort of smug satisfaction at watching someone you consider a spoiled child "get what she deserves!" I'm not saying anyone here has said that, but there is no shortage of people who revel in stuff like this, a sentiment I consider more appropriate for the XFL than golf.
The LPGA should take the lead in freeing its players from such a ridiculous rule and simply post the scores, hole by hole, electronically. The responsibility for the score should be on the tournament, not the player.
Imagine the good will with fans if players walked off the 18th unconcerned about manually recording their scores...they could sign autographs, smile, take pictures, or promote their tour.
Compare it to a Super Bowl; where time expires and the winning team has to run to the locker room to sign a scorecard. It's a ridiculous comparison, yet that's exactly what golf requires of its stars.
Remember that Rules apply to all golfers, not just professional. So in the local member/guest, I don't think you can have scores electronically entered by a 3rd party.
Even so, it is only the player who really knows what they shot, as a scorer may not catch a penalty or a shot hit from in the trees. I guess you could assign an "official" scorer to each player who is also a Rules expert and follow them like a hawk to make sure every shot is accounted for...although I'm not sure the LGPA ot PGA or any pro tour has the manpower to do such a thing.
You also assume that the scorer wouldn't make any mistakes. I used to work at a bank and it was quite common for the tellers to be over/under at the end of the day. A human counting and recording a score will lose track from time to time.
The rules do work for local muni tourneys all the way to major championships because this is all that is says:
"Rule 6-6b. – Signing and Returning Score Card governed the situation: After completion of the round, the competitor should check his score for each hole and settle any doubtful points with the Committee. He must ensure that the marker or markers have signed the score card, sign the score card himself and return it to the Committee as soon as possible."
The rule about the scoring tent is written by the LPGA. The LPGA could easily change its supplemental rules and still enforce the "as soon as possible" language of Rule 6-6b. If the LPGA is going to be allowing volunteers to run the scoring table, should these volunteers even be considered part of the "Committee"? Maybe cards shouldn't even be considered "turned in to the Committee" until the cards are all collected and turned over to LPGA officials.
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