Wie - Relevant point lost in the melee?

j/k of course.....


we now return to the actual topic at hand....

Clive, this dueling forums thing is interesting but I feel the need to clarify here based on your post there (and here previously).

My post is not about Wie and what she should be responsible for knowing and so forth.  My post is about the LPGA and the fix in which they have got themselves.  It might have been much, much worse.  They almost got themselves in a spot where their marketing bonanza would have been sidelined for a year.  Then you have the pressure from the sponsors, the press and God knows who else.

The LPGA dodged a huge bullet.  They're lucky the story has thus far been mostly about Wie.  It might very easily have been 100% about them.  What if Wie hadn't withdrew?  That would have been a nightmare for the Tour.  Now, take it one step further and imagine a scenario where not only was the player sidelined but the whole mess was compounded by the fact that the Tour had previously refused her membership.  It would have been an utter fiasco.

That's my whole point.  The LPGA got lucky and they need to immediate action before, next time, it doesn't work out quite so well from their perspective.

I think the LPGA losing a star attraction had been addressed over there.  But the view that the LPGA needs to act fast to jettison the 88 Rule has not.

I see what you're saying now, and I agree.

(FWIW, I was trying to divorce my response from Michelle Wie as best I could.  But when you think about it, YOUR response is Wie-centric in that she is the semi-unique fan draw that was almost lost.)

You know, I'm with you now. At first I was thinking this is a teenager who is being pulled in many different directions. But the LPGA does have a dilemma here. What do they do? Try to override the rules as they go giving special exemptions when it meets their needs or fix the rules so they don't get into this corner.