Bamburger is now Bumberger. What a way to get your fifteen minutes, for shame.

Jim Palosaari
Nashville

There are great people and there are "great people wannabes" - It is clear that Bamburger is in the latter class. Great people sometimes make mistakes or fail, but it is in them to come back again. Michelle Wie will do just that. On the other hand, "Great people wannabes" only increase their 'loser' qualities as they season, because sooner or later people see through their game of seeking fame through the downfall of others. Bamburger takes the decade prize for no class, and no skill in objective reporting. I hope it will sustain him in the years to come - because bringing people down will be all he will be known for!

Wie had a wee indescretion but having said that she would know the rules and got caught,after all if she owned up it would have cost her 2 shots.So in fact she cheated

It's all B.S. The video of Steve Williams stepping on Tiger Woods' ball was also "inconclusive" and did they DQ him? No. Steve Williams said he would have admitted it if he had. Still thrones of "reporters" were quick to accuse him otherwise.

And for this ruling to happen a day after completioafter the results are "official?" Totally unprofessional on the LPGA and Bumberger. Non-officials (read: reporters (on or off the course), fans (on and off the course) should not be allowed to call rule infractions even if they are completely evident.

What a way to completely beat up a mere 16 year old girl on her first professional outing. Michael Who? Shame on you. Bumberger.

The LPGA should not make that kind of chicken ruling the day after the fact. Michell Wie will live on I'm sure. I guess Bumberger is proud of himself. What a classy guy!

Michael: So much for the future between the next Tiger Woods of the LPGA and Sports Illustrated. By the way, why did you wait until Sunday to tell?

Fuel to the fire:
"Michael Bamberger just happens to have have a golfing book set for release in 2 weeks."
-travel golf blog

This Golfing Life

Michael Bamberger has been writing about golf for Golf Digest and The Philadelphia Inquirer for over twenty years, and for ...more
US Release: 2005-11-09

Book_Review_This_Golfing_Life_by_Michael_Bamberger

Shame on Bamberber. I am sure he saw the few inches that was in question right away. He should be an engineer instead of a reporter. I just canceled my subscription to SI. I refuse to read something written by a person with such indiscretion.

I think most have seen the light on this incident. I still cannot understand why he waited so long to call attention on this? "Gotcha", did he try extortion?

Interesting about that little worm Bumberger's book release. If you cancel your subscription to SI, GOLFWEEK ran an excellent article "In Defense of Michelle Wie" written by Jim Achenbach. Golf is suppose to be a sportsmanlike game, and if Michelle's paired opponent or official assigned to her area at the time had nothing to say about her drop at the time, then the game and score should remain. Imagine how ridiculous the game would be if spectators all started questioning plays? More likely it's only Michelle Wie that deserved to be questioned. To return well after the fact in a guess at best attempt to reenact the scene is preposterous, lacks common sense and does not speak well for golf. True that the loss of her first paycheck as a pro is a smidgen to her millions and Michelle will benefit from this lesson. The ruling needs to re-examined as well as the motives of Bamberger along with the officials who are now party to them. Shame on all of them.

This still does nothing for the fact that in the end, she did cheat, it might not have been on purpose more than likely it was not, but defending her for the actions demonstrates a lack of understanding of the rules, they are there for a reason, what happens if she ended up winning the tournament where is the justicfication of that, considering Sorenson played an excellent and legitimate game? Wie is a pro after all she has been playing golf all her life, she should know the rules. I dont fully agree with Bamberger, but rules are rules, there is a reason for them golfers are meant to abide by them, in fairness of the game.

Bamberger's intention was totally to ruin M.Wie on her first pro debut. He waited to report to official after he confirm that Wie sign the score card. Every body will know his intention to make him hot shot on news.I am proud of Michelle Wie, She accept the Golf rule, and It will be her benifit for future to call anytime for tournament official ruler to verify and confirm. She is just concentrate only to golf game. Shame on you, Bamgerger.I hope your daughter will read your intention.

Wie did not cheat, cheating is willful intent. When the officials reviewed the video tape and questioned those involved, it was determined to be inconclusive. It wasn't until they measured from where they "think" the ball was, that they came to their decision. When does a guess become a fact?, which is what the official Smith emphasized with his decision. Bamberger's action and timing was all self-serving. SI's interpretation of BJ shaking Bamberger's hand to say "good job" as backing his actions was more likely BJ telling him, *expletive* you. Michelle has handled this entire debacle with grace and class.

JM,

Thanks for clarifying the meaning of cheat. KD obviously does not understand what that means. Besides, this "improper drop" by Michelle was not even proved as you pointed out. It was all done on "guesswork". LPGA official clearly misjudged, though Bamberger was the one who should be blamed for this mistake. In the end, he did Michelle a big favor as it turned out as we all know.

Wie cheated, and the circumstantial evidence proves it. After Wie spotted her ball, her caddie told her to be careful about where she placed her ball. Why would he say that after she dropped if he did not see something suspicious? Moreover, Wie claims she was 3" over the line; LPGA officials put it at 12-18". If they're right, Wie should have been hitting off of hard dirt instead of grass. Any golfer will tell you that grass is better than dirt; after her triple bogey off of dirt, Grace Park would agree. I also find it interesting that Ty Votaw had to call a special meeting for Korean players a few months ago to discuss cheating -- things like parents kicking balls from behind trees, etc. were discussed. That didn't happen here, but the parent issue reminds me that BJ has been ousting caddies for months (what's the number, 6 or 7 who have quit or been fired?), and it is suspicious that Wie's caddie didn't act more forcefully when he spotted something awry. He is in a tough position -- he tells Wie to put it in the dirt, she blows up and he's canned by BJ. He keeps his mouth shut, she gets called on it, and he's out 10% of the purse. No wonder he yelled at Bamberger. Wie cheated and got what she deserved. Let her call rules officials everytime there's an issue --that will not upset her competitors one bit.

HJ,

Interestingly Tiger Woods and the R&A (Royal and Ancients) have both spoken out in support of Michelle. Yes, the LPGA officials dropped their ball bigtime. Where with 20 players they should have had 10 officials, they had all of 2. With that shortfall and so much resting on the authority of these officials, should they have even been allowed to call the tournament "official"?

Happy golfing!
JM

I too will not renew my SI subscription. That whole deal was sickening. I classify Bamburgers actions as abuse. His editor is (evidently) also in on Bamburger's decision to come forward days later. Both of them should be fired. This is a serious blow to golf. We don't need people like that around our sport.

GK