Confirmation on the Conformation!

Sarah Brown + Conforming PING Wedge = Disqualified? WTF?

Here's the scoop: Sarah Brown, a Duramed Futures Tour Player, was DQ'd because a rules official decided to pull her off the course for using a wedge they "thought" to be non-conforming. Her dad pleading for her to at the least finish her round, (being 3 shots off the lead and about to have her best showing EVER in competitive golf) was denied that right - And then, OOOOOOOOPS!? Sarah's wedge was totally conforming... like, sorry.

Head in my hands and vomit feeling in my tummy...

"We made a mistake," said David Higdon, Chief Communications Officer for the LPGA.

Sarah being the sweet girl that she is, agreed that people make mistakes. Here's the deal Sarah... YOU PAY THE FUTURES TOUR/LPGA so that YOU CAN PLAY PRO GOLF. Knoweldgeable staff is hired to execute a job well-done. This week was a payday and a movement in rankings, and that was taken away, by error.

Zayra Calderon, (CEO of the Duramed Futures Tour) has officially apologized to Sarah for the mistake. Zayra is the same person that noted when I was playing the DFT and on the player board that, playing on the Duramed Futures Tour was not about making a living, it was about learning how to get to the next level, it's a "developmental" tour. Ahhhh yes, Wendy's Chili and rollin' 5-deep at the Knights Inn was a way of life in 2004... :)

Making a living is an issue, especially with what it costs to be out there. Sarah Brown needs a GIANT apology from the LPGA in payment/exemption format of 5K and an entry into 2010 LPGA Qualifying School. A sorry band-aid from Zayra or a media shout-out from Higdon is politically correct, but perhaps not the be-all-end-all. These ladies fight on and off the course to have a slim-chance at success in Women's Golf, there is little to no money to be made in the Futures purses and sponsorships. These ladies find a way to fund their dream that essentially runs a loss and forever remains a gamble. What happened to Sarah was unacceptable.

Women's professional golf has too many hard-working individuals and world-class athletes to have mediocre tour management that make silly errors that not only cost the growth of the tour, but inevitably hold back success of rising stars.

Exposed as a "Dairy Queen"

OMG! How can this be? Forgetting to sign her scorecard is Michelle Wie?

Just when the most talented and criticized player in the game is about to have a giant comeback and slap the world in the face with her first LPGA Win - She gets Dairy Queened (disqualified). I'd prefer to focus on 2nd year LPGA player Ji Young Oh's first victory, or the exquisite Anna Rawson's final round of 66 - but I am left dwelling on "Michelle's Mistake".

Wie doesn't sign her scorecard after Friday's round, where she's 1 off the lead. She steps outside the "scoring area" and is signing autographs for fans, until the "scorers" realize that she hasn't signed her scorecard. She gets the DQ news after a brilliant 67 (5-under) round on Saturday finishing at 17-under, just 1 shot back of Yani Tseung (2008 LPGA McDonalds Champion).

Hmmmmm.... Do I dare ask: What if the LPGA disqualified Wie on Friday? Would that have changed ticket sales for Sunday? Could it have effected the weekend hype going into Saturday? Or did the LPGA really need a full day to analyze the exact details and precise series of events all day Saturday while Wie put on a "free" phenominal display of golf?

I got wind of the DQ instantly on a flashing ESPN bulletin and told myself "NO" 27 times while pacing the room with my sidekick in one hand and diet coke in the other.

Was the situation pushed beyond its limit to hype the event and the LPGA by way of exposing Wie? (once again)

Yes, Michelle didn't sign her scorecard (on FRIDAY), but I question the reasoning of her completion and participation in Saturday's round, and that's just me.