Rule 88: did Michelle Wie withdraw to avoid year suspension on LPGA tour?
OK, I have no idea what really happened because I didn’t see it. But ESPN’s Eric Adelson’s account of the events leading up to Michelle Wie’s withdrawal due to “wrist” injury is very suggestive:
“The somewhat obscure Rule of 88 states that a nonmember who shoots 88 is forced to withdraw and subsequently banned from LPGA co-sponsored events for the remainder of the calendar season. Wie said later that she never considered the possibility, but soon after her score ballooned to 12-over on the par-72 course, her parents began consulting with each other and William Morris manager Greg Nared, who had a cell phone to his ear. Chris Higgs, the LPGA chief operations officer, soon drove up in a cart and spoke with Nared. Higgs had been talking about the Rule of 88 in the media tent, but he said he came out to Wie’s rope line for “no particular reason.”
“Wie’s score climbed to 14-over, and then, after Wie finished up on the seventh hole, Nared spoke to her briefly before she announced, “We’re not going to play anymore.”
So dear readers was it smart for Wie to withdraw? Do you think the LPGA wanted to protect its marquee player from a year suspension from the LPGA tour?
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