No, You Cannot Ground Your Club in the Hazard Like That
by Ryan Ballengee on Mar 29, 2010 10:41 AM EDT
in Pro Golf
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PrintMichelle Wie got "one for the thumb" yesterday in the final round of the LPGA's Kia Classic at La Costa. On the 11th hole - a par 5 - Wie went for the green in two. Seemed like a bad idea to make the play and, sure enough, her ball rolled back down a bank and barely into a water hazard.
Since she is a young buckeroo, she had the chutzpah to play the ball out of the water in a red stake hazard. That was well within the Rules of Golf. Wie played the shot, albeit too steeply according to the Golf Channel, and only managed to get her ball out of the water but still in the hazard. As Wie was settling from the shot and a pretty big splash (which should have been no surprise), she grounded her club in the hazard.
Boom goes the dynamite. Two stroke penalty.
After the following hole, LPGA rules official Doug Brecht was out there to explain to the decision to enforce the penalty on Wie. Wie called it "unfair" and said she was trying to balance herself out to prevent any kind of Aquawoman incident. The replays cleared showed that she was in no imminent danger of taking the plunge, so her explanation was moot and the penalty stood.
Following the round, Wie commented on the matter to the press.
"I knew I [grounded my club], but at the same time I knew that I felt off-balance. I closed my eyes when I hit the shot and I ground my club so I wouldn't fall into the water. I was wearing a white skirt."
This is the fifth time in her pro career that Wie has been on the unfortunate end of the rules. The causes for the violations were not from third parties. They were her own fault. The end result has probably cost her some $300,000 in prize money in her short career. If LPGA tournament organizers had to donate the lost money to pay off the US deficit, Wie would be a Tea Party hero right now.
Whatever it takes, Wie has to get her head together on the rules. Buy the USGA Rules of Golf iPhone app. It's only $4 and would have saved Wie $90,000 on Sunday alone. That kind of ROI is tough to beat. And in lieu of technology, where was Wie's caddy to politely remind her to not ground her club under any circumstance?
Woody Austin knew the rules and preferred to fall in a lake rather than ground his club. That's the kind of principled stand for the rules that makes this sport great. Then again, Woody Austin wasn't wearing a golf skirt.
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The excuses never end with that girl.
The good news is that apparently her ankle is all healed. Perhaps she was trying to cool off with a nice refreshing spray to avoid another case of heat exhaustion. jes sayin
"pain is only weakness leaving the body"
question ?
During her interview with Val Skinner, Michelle says she called the penalty on herself. I watched it several times and don’t recall seeing that. Anyone have the answer ? If she did call the penalty on herself then why would you even argue the penalty ? hmmmmm
"pain is only weakness leaving the body"
She didn’t call anything on herself.
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by Ryan Ballengee on Mar 29, 2010 11:08 AM EDT up reply actions
Woody grounded his club
Water is part of the water hazard. He wasn’t penalized because his ball was no longer in the hazard when he did it.
by I_miss_Switzer on Mar 29, 2010 11:32 AM EDT reply actions
That is an important caveat to the rule – thanks for reminding us of it!
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by Ryan Ballengee on Mar 29, 2010 11:35 AM EDT up reply actions
THIS is the biggest name in women's golf ? How embarrassing.
Not trying to start a Tiger Woods argument here – but all the screaming and finger pointing that TW has damaged the integrity of the game and the game itself with all his daliances OFF the course – why aren’t those same people screaming that Wie’s constant stream of lies and excuses when she screws up with the rules ?
She didn’t call the penalty on herself…she didn’t put any weight on the clubs to balance herself…the "it’s not fair…and the topper, “I was wearing a white skirt”…
RB – THESE are lies. Blatant, little girl lies trying to keep from as much embarrassment and penalty as possible.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
I’m not disagreeing with that at all. I know she was trying to make her case, but she didn’t really have one here.
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by Ryan Ballengee on Mar 29, 2010 11:54 AM EDT up reply actions
Thanks to I_ miss_Switzer
My husband doesn’t have the best balance in the world. I watch him climb down the bank into a hazard using his club to support himself and mentally count 1,2,3,,4,5 etc, penalties on him. I do shout out “Don’t ground your club!” after he has taken his stance though. Thanks to I-miss-Switzer, I’m now going to have to stop adding 1,2,3,4,5 etc penalties as he uses the same club to climb up the other side (unless he has been misfortunate enough to leave the ball in said hazard of course. Spoilt half my fun, he has, with pointing out this caveat.
just hope he doesn’t ask for a refund on all those bets over the years he lost because of penalty strokes ! :-D
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
You know darn well
we don’t count those penalties as we deem them “to prevent falling”. Sure makes him mad though if we count out loud! I don’t totally agree with Switzer, though, because if Woody grounded his club as a result of falling there is no penalty whether the ball remains in the hazard or not. Rule 13-4 “there is no penalty if the player (a) touches the ground in any hazard or water in a water hazard AS A RESULT OF or to prevent FALLING”.
“If WE count out loud” ? So picking on hubby is a team effort, eh ? :-)
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
Yup!
“We” are somewhat nimbler on our feet than he is. Don’t tell me that you never take the mickey out of your playing partners? Anyway, he’s my opponent on the golf course and takes no prisoners with my (rare???) duff shots either.
good call Wendy
I forgot about that distinction as well
by I_miss_Switzer on Mar 29, 2010 12:37 PM EDT up reply actions
Ugh, maybe she needs to go back to junior golf to learn the rules and how to win.
It gets old when this stuff seems to follow her everywhere.
When Michelle Wie
is playing well, she is a joy to watch, but I don’t believe for one moment that she understands the principle of calling a penalty on herself if she can get away with it.
Compare with McDowell (I think it was) who after his round had finished, asked to see a video because he thought he might have caught the water on his backswing. No-one else had seen it.
However, MW’s behaviour only taints her, not the integrity of golf IMO.
That's probably the bigger concern
Wasn’ there some dust up last year (or maybe the year prior) about a perceived illegal drop. This is supposed to be a self governed game. Call the penalty on yourself Wie.
Rules philospohy question
Why should a grassy bank be part of the hazard? What should the player not be able to ground the club there?
by I_miss_Switzer on Mar 29, 2010 12:38 PM EDT reply actions
The course determines things like potential water level and sometimes an area where the ball cannot stop before going into the hazard to place their stakes and paint the ground.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
I know that
but what if the hazard was just defined by the water? Would that be so hard?
I guess lost balls in reedy banks might be a problem.
by I_miss_Switzer on Mar 29, 2010 12:45 PM EDT up reply actions
Interesting question - Switzer
Hazards are bunkers or water hazards of course, but why isn’t the grass-covered bank bordering the bunker NOT deemed part of the hazard when the grassy banks down to the water hazards are? After all, why should the defining line of the sand be any less or more than the defining line of the water (if you see what I mean). Dunno.
I'm sure more clever minds than ours have it figured out
but if that is sand not water behind her, she can ground her club all day.
by I_miss_Switzer on Mar 29, 2010 1:31 PM EDT up reply actions
Not another “grassy knoll” conspiracy.
by sports medic on Mar 29, 2010 10:03 PM EDT up reply actions
I just watched the video...
…and I expected to see something very different from what I saw. I expected to see something that maybe could be debated to be her trying to stabilize herself, but I don’t see how it could even be argued that she grounded her club for stability.
agreed
I watched it live and have seen it a dozen times since. Michelle never even came close to losing her balance and merely laid her clubhead on the grass after completing her swing. There was never a question – she did not need it for stability so the penalty ruling was justified.
I must disagree, sort of
I watched the tournament myself, and watching it in real time, with only one camera angle, i’m not 100% certain she didn’t need it for balance. To eliminate any uncertainty, there should have been a camera angle from her side as well as from behind her. I can understand her anger as far as for people saying she wasn’t unbalanced. She knew what she felt, as i’m sure all of us have when in awkward situations. That being said, she didn’t handle the situation with a lot of grace or class either. But i can’t say with complete certainty that she didn’t need the club for balance. Watching the replay in real time, it looked to me as if she was moving forward, indicating that maybe she was losing her balance that way. Oh well, who cares.
seriously ? you couldn’t tell ? didn’t notice that there was no pressure on the club, that it was sliding around ? There was no lean towards the bank ? There were only 3 fingers on the club ?
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
i’m amazed no one has mentioned Seo’s tee shot when it hit the overhead power lines, and how she got to replay with no penalty. That goes to show you how stupid and contradictory these rules can be.
The reason why there was no penalty was because it was covered in the course ground rules.
by sports medic on Mar 29, 2010 9:16 PM EDT up reply actions
We have the same local rule at our course
If you hit the wires you MUST replay with no penalty – no option. Not sure how that equates to the penalty for voluntarily grounding a club in a hazard against the rules?
how in the world is a local rule about WIRES IN THE AIR where the ball is stopped even close to grounding a club in a hazard…a rule tht has been around for ages ?
bags – come on – we have all been off balance – if we had a stick, we put the stick down in the direction we were falling. she put no pressure on that club – you could see that it was sliding along the ground, not pressing into the ground to hold her up.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
The wires
The Local and tournament ruling for those wires is that the Player must tee it up and hit it over again. Even if the player wants to hit it as it is, where ever in lands, they must hit the drive over. There is no penalty given. Thats the rule.
"pain is only weakness leaving the body"
Yes and No .
Was she off balance?,….probaby not, but you cannot say that with100% certainty. Did she ground her club ? Absolutely. However, the spirit of the rule is,…“did she test the condition of the hazard in preparation for the next shot” ? That is what this rule is about, and from what I saw, clearly she wasn’t testing anything. One thing to remember, Wie will never get any “rules” breaks after walking off during Anika’s tournament, so she wouldn’t post an 88. She circumvented a rule in so doing, and they will never give her the benefit of any doubt. This was an infraction, but it is also similar to when McIlroy kicked the sand in a bunker at last years Masters.. The rules committee asked him,…." was it his intent to “test the condition” of the hazard.?" McIlroy said no, and thus he was not penalized. I didn’t see them ask Wie the same question. Now y’all know why………………………Z.
you're still away,...choke on it !
HA !! Wouldn’t THAT have been a great kicker ? Add a “testing conditions” penalty to grounding the club !! (lol)
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
Or if the ball had rolled back into the water.
But heck one has to wonder about the sudden sore wrist when MW was about to shoot an 88. Then Anika calls her on hitting balls on the range. Where did the sore wrist suddenly go ? Maybe it’s just me, but I call em as I see em.
"pain is only weakness leaving the body"
Different situation.
Michelle violated Rule 13-4. Ball in Hazard; Prohibited Actions
“Except as provided in the Rules, before making a stroke at a ball that is in a hazard, …the player must not:…c. Touch or move a loose impediment lying in or touching the hazard. Exception: there is no penalty if the player (a) touches the ground or loose impediments in any hazard or water in a water hazard as a result of or to prevent falling.” The only issue is “Was she falling”: not "as she states “off-balance”. I may feel “off-balance” or unsteady on a ladder without falling. She carelessly dropped the club. A falling person whould grip it tighter and attempt to sue it as a crutch to stop her fall. Without video evidence of falling she has no case.
If the rules sound complex, it is because golf is a favorite sport of lawyers and polititions who can smell a loophole a mile away.
I give Michelle high marks for trying the shot. But great reward carries risk. The penalty is probably steep because relief is an option. I can understand why she would want to review the video. She well beyond the boundry for passionate defense into a trait that is not so admirable.
Nike should be happy. She got the “swoosh” another 20 minutes of airtime.
by sports medic on Mar 29, 2010 10:00 PM EDT up reply actions
Actually if you watch MW climb out of the water hazard.
There was no effort on her part at all. No foot stuck in mud nothing at all.
"pain is only weakness leaving the body"
Could you clarify?
In the McIlory case, did he say that he was just smoothing the trap after his shot (which looked like he was kicking the sand in frustration), or what was said that allowed him to avoid a penalty?
In the Wie case, since she wasn’t in a bunker and not smoothing a spot after a shot, was there any way her action could have been excused? Testing the conditions is not a required action, right? Just the fact that her club touched the ground (and appears not to have aided her from falling) made it a requirement to penalize her…correct?
I write about golf at www.tees2greens.com, too.
While the “live coverage” of the meeting with the rules officals was interesting, the GC could have cut away to live coverage of the beer shower and trophy presentation. At least a split screen would have been nice.
Does anyone else think the conference would have been significantly shorter if the cameras had not been rolling?
While I agree with the penalty to Wie I just have to say this. Back a few years ago at the US Womens Open i forget what player it was that double hit a shot. While video clearly showed the double hit the player said that she didnt feel she double hit it. But like I said the video clearly showed it and Johnny Miller picked it up as soon as it happened. But because the player felt like she didnt double hit it there was no penalty accessed. But in Michelle Wie case she is basicly told that she is a liar. Which heck maybe she is maybe she isnt. But that is basicly what happened. While I dont believe she lost her balance only Michelle knows weither or not she lost her balance. But the rules officals never took her word and flat out called her a lair. But in the situation I mentioned they didnt access a penalty based on a players explanation. When the video CLEARLY showed a double hit. But Michelle Wie tried to explain herself but was basicly called a liar.
I've watched the video several times now
and whilst I don’t think for one minute that she was trying to gain any advantage by grounding her club, she did so in a most casual manner. I can see no sign whatsoever of her being off balance, let alone in danger of falling. Her weight is mainly on her back foot, which one would expect on that slope, her body remains totally upright after the shot; no sign of an imminent lurch or stumble. Sadly I think less of her now for arguing about the penalty.
In the circumstances that golf-nut has described, I think the player should have been penalised for the double-hit. Obviously it wasn’t done deliberately, but the intent doesn’t have to be there, only the action itself.
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