Fact or fiction: LPGA Rules Official found out the "facts"
Robert O. Smith, LPGA Rules Official, attempted to defend his decision yesterday. For his picture, go here.
1. Admission 1: he himself couldn’t find any divot on Sunday where Michelle actually hit her shot on Saturday. “When I went out there, I looked for a scuffed up area where that ball might have been hit yesterday. I could not find it. I could not see it. That’s 24 hours, so the grass tends to rebound.” OK, so there’s no actual evidence of where the drop was, other than the videotape.
2. Admission 2: the videotape of the actual events from Saturday was “inconclusive.” “I looked at the videotape which was inconclusive.” OK, so the videotape doesn’t help, either.
3. Non sequitur: But then, with no physical evidence or conclusive videotape evidence of the drop, Robert O. Smith asserts, “I told them, the rules of golf, ladies and gentlemen, are based on facts. Where was the ball? It’s a fact where that ball was. They had to tell us where it was. From there I can tell. Then I have to find out where did you play your shot from after you dropped the ball. That’s also a fact.”
Wait a second: how can you establish a “fact” based on what Michelle Wie said was only “guesswork” the day after where she might have found her ball in the bush and where she dropped the ball. As Michelle explained, “It was yesterday, it’s not like it was from today. It’s from yesterday. It was all guesswork where the ball was, where the ball was yesterday, where the ball was originally in the bushes. So it was basically all guesswork.” Sorry, ladies and gentleman, that’s not a “fact” when the witnesses are speculating or guessing where they might have been hitting the ball 24 hours before. That’s just speculation.
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