More questions and fallout from Michelle Wie withdrawal

Sal Johnson of Golf Observer points out there were a number of unsavory things happening from Team Wie…like her father BJ offering options while looking for her ball on 15. Sal will have my Black Mesa piece and a Tom Doak pieces up soon on Golf Observer.

Next, Beth Ann Baldry of Golfweek has some stinging observations, among them:

“Wie said she WD’d because of her wrist injury. Immediately after she was carted back to the clubhouse, a bag of ice was put on her left wrist and she went into a private room to talk things over with her parents and agent, Greg Nared, before facing the media.”

[Editor’s note: according to an ESPN article, she left the ice bag on the room and did not have it meeting with the media.]

“Yeah, I felt good when I was practicing but I kind of tweaked it in the middle of the round a bit,” said Wie. “I’m going to reanalyze it and kind of try to be smart about it. But I definitely want to play next week.”

Wie didn’t appear to be wincing in pain during the round. One of her playing partners, Alena Sharp, said she never saw Wie hold her wrist.

“I think she withdrew because of the high score, definitely,” said Sharp. “If it was a wrist injury problem don’t you think she would have withdrawn after a few holes? Why wait until the last two?”

Then Baldry reports on BJ Wie’s involvement:

“The bottom line here is that B.J. Wie should not have said one word to his daughter. Clark, a former PGA Tour caddie, surely knows the options she faced in her situation and is capable of advising his player.

“I’m going to talk to B.J. the next time I see him at the McDonald’s next week and tell him that by doing that, he’s opened up a can,” said MacKenzie.

Sharp said she learned something about the rules today after speaking with MacKenzie.

“Anybody can say something from outside the ropes and you won’t get penalized unless you ask (for it),” said Sharp. “And she didn’t ask.”

But that hardly seems like it embodies the spirit of the rule, especially when it’s a parent or coach doing the talking. Sharp had strong feelings about B.J.’s role in the episode. By the time she reached the practice range after her round, everyone was talking about it.”

Finally, expect Steve Czaban to weigh in on Wednesday on his site.

It’s a really a good thing Michelle quit…an awful lot of people would have lost an awful lot of commissions, ticket sales and co-branding deal money had she been unable to compete.