First off, it was a scintillating weekend of golf if you enjoy a good wrist injury.
Both Phil Mickelson and Michelle Wie withdrew from their respective tournaments after injuring and reinjuring their respective wrists, putting them in jeopardy of missing their respective and imminent majors, next week's U.S. Open and this week's LPGA Championship.
With due respect to Mickelson, Wie's withdrawal was more noteworthy and certainly more dubious. In fact, it had a reek resembling whatever was in the bottom of that drain where Wie's tee shot at the third hole of the Ginn Tribute last Thursday came to rest. She wound up with a rather imperfect and quintuple bogey 10 on that hole (which was her 12th of the day) and withdrew about an hour later as she sat perilously close to having her entire season go down the drain.
The LPGA has an 88-and-over rule, which is not the standard by which the late Anna Nicole Smith chose her husbands but actually an edict barring players -- such as Wie -- who are not members of the LPGA from competing for the remainder of a calendar year in which they shoot a tournament round of 88 or higher. After making bogey at #7, Wie was 14 over through 16 holes, two scant shots short of the dreaded double snowmen that would freeze her out of LPGA competition for the rest of 2007. Before she reached the 8th tee, she had a brief conversation with her manager, Greg Nared, then notified LPGA officials that she could no longer play.
The only way that scene could've looked more suspicious is if she would've said, "Ooh, my arm! It's broken!" and called for Danny Noonan to come finish her round. (If you, like Wie, were born P.C. -- post-Caddyshack -- or simply need to kill an extra 40 seconds, click here.
As if Wie's comedy of errors weren't bad enough, the machinations going on outside the ropes thickened the plot. There was Michelle's ubiquitous father, B.J., teetering on the edge of violating the rule which prohibits anyone other than a caddie giving advice. There was Nared talking on his cell phone, which itself is a no-no, as Wie's score soared. And then there were the LPGA personnel popping up out of nowhere like outlaws in a video shooting gallery, from commissioner to commissary chef.
Afterward, Wie denied the 88 rule had anything to do with her decision, but an LPGA spokesperson confirmed to me Wednesday morning that Nared did ask about the rule during Wie's round.
Whatever the reason for her WD, Wie looked a little like Rodney Dangerfield's Al Czervik when she showed up at Bulle Rock, the site of this week's LPGA Championship, to practice just a couple of days after leaving the Ginn. Playing Judge Smails to Wie's Czervik was Annika Sorenstam, the host of the Ginn tournament, who said Wie's actions showed a lack of respect and class, especially considering she hadn't earned the right to compete but rather was there on a sponsor's exemption. Further ruffling the feathers was the fact that LPGA members aren't allowed to play a tournament course the week before the event. Given the chance Tuesday of this week, Wie offered no apology for anything.
There is growing suspicion -- if it hasn't already fully blossomed -- among LPGA players that Wie feigned injury to avoid the 88 rule and save herself for this week's major. But Janice Moodie isn't piling on. Moodie, a two-time LPGA winner and Solheim Cup stalwart from Scotland, turned 34 last Thursday and was paired with Wie in that ill-fated round. (Maybe all those LPGA officials had come out to sing Happy Birthday to Moodie.)
In a GMT exclusive -- seriously! -- Moodie told me she heard Wie say, "Ouch!" after hitting her tee shot on the first hole, which was the group's 10th of the day. Wie had said that was precisely when she began feeling the pain. "My caddie and I were the only ones who heard it," Moodie said. "She didn't swing as hard from that point on." As for Wie's purported petulance, Moodie added, "She was great to play with. Very friendly and respectful."
Know this about Moodie: she may be 104th in driving accuracy this year, but she's the straightest shooter on the LPGA Tour and is unique in that she's respected by and friends with players from every corner of the LPGA. Remember the infamous do-over at the 2000 Solheim Cup when the U.S. made Annika hit a second pitch shot after it was determined the Americans should've played first? Moodie was Sorenstam's partner in that match. (The U.S. went on to win that match but lose the Cup.) Several European players were still steamed the next week when Moodie and I sucked Slurpees (Moodie - blue coconut, me - suicide) at a 7-Eleven in Vallejo, California where she was playing and I was broadcasting the Samsung World Championship. But Moodie wasn't one of them. She actually defended U.S. captain Pat Bradley's right to make Annika play again. So if Moodie tells me Wie was in pain, I believe it.
The truth is, Wie's WD was tactically brilliant, if not altogether believable. It was clear at that point that she a) was bothered by the pain in her wrist and b) wasn't going to win the tournament. Why risk being kicked off Tour the rest of the season? (For the record, Moodie thinks Wie's proven herself past the point of being subject to the 88 rule, which ostensibly applies to those not capable of tournament competition.) Had Wie come out and said she withdrew because of score and soreness, she would've at least been given points for candor. Instead, this looks like another case in which the Wie camp is pulling strings from the shadows.
And make no mistake, whatever fascination with Wie exists among fans and tournament directors is absent among a growing number of players who see a lot less of the innocent, giggly teenager of the last few years and a lot more of the fully-formed prima donna, one whose critics will remind you has yet to finish prima in a tournament to date.
The LPGA has more than a Wie bit of trouble heading into its marquee championship. This entire Tour's a mess right now. Besides the daily episodes of "As the Wie Turns," you have the current #1, Lorena Ochoa, unable to consistently close out tournaments, including Sunday when she shot 74 and lost a playoff to Nicole Castrale. You have Annika Sorenstam, who's not only lost her #1 ranking but also a healthy spine and whose career now appears in jeopardy. And since the first four tournaments of the year which saw players go out and win tournaments, there's been one Sunday collapse after another.
Of course, all of that would be forgiven and forgotten, at least for the time being, if Wie, Sorenstam, and Ochoa end up contending for this major title Sunday afternoon. I'm an LPGA homer, so I hope it happens. In fact, Golf Channel's coverage is about to start, so, I'm going to withdraw from this column after 1,195 words. Why? Ooh, my arm! It's broken!
Grant Boone is a husband, father, golf broadcaster, and sports journalist based in Abilene, Texas. His column appears on PGA.com each Wednesday and every day during major championships and other big events. He can be contacted at pgagrant@hotmail.com.
The views and opinions expressed here do not reflect those of PGA.com or The PGA of America.
