What Exactly Was Michelle Wie Saying?

I'll be honest -- I love Michelle Wie. I love how she has handled all the ridicule earlier in her career (sometimes even from me). I love how she has decided to do other things, including a rather entertaining blog and Twitter account. I love that she dated one of the Lopez twins.

That is why it pains me to question Michelle, who seems like a sweetheart from what I have seen. (when I caddied for Erica Blasberg at the 2009 LPGA Championship, I walked by Michelle at one point and told her congrats for her win in Mexico and her smiling response looked like I'd just saved her puppy from getting hit by a Hummer. It was almost like I was doing her a favor. Genuine chick.)

But, the argument on Sunday that she lost balance at the Kia Classic, grounding her club in a hazard and costing her two shots (and $100,000), seems a bit odd. Here, watch the video.

I have to admit ... balance never seems to be the issue. It looks like Michelle hit the shot, was looking to see exactly what happened and then just placed the wedge on the ground.

I'd chalk this up to a "rule in golf that has nothing to do with the outcome of the shot," but isn't that always the case with stuff like this? The grounding your club in a hazard rule came about so that people couldn't test the conditions of a certain shot. Here, Michelle obviously had already hit the shot, was just placing the club down and in no way was checking to see how the ground would play. But, as you've read a billion times, rules are rules, and the balancing thing never seems to play out.

I hate it happened to Michelle, but just admitting it occurred and moving on seems like a better play than saying you lost your balance.