Another ‘W’ for Sorenstam; DQ for Wie

Michelle Wie’s first professional tournament ended the way many women’s golf tournaments do: with Annika Sorenstam carding the lowest score, collecting the winner’s share of the purse and carting home a trophy.

Sorenstam’s stop-and-start final round of three-under-par 69 beneath dark, threatening skies and intermittent showers Sunday in Palm Desert gave the defending champion a 72-hole total of 18-under 270, good enough for an eight-shot victory in the Samsung World Championship at Bighorn Golf Club.

The more extraordinary news of the day came nearly two hours after she had holed out on No. 18, when it was announced that the 16-year-old Wie had been disqualified for taking an improper drop from the bushes Saturday.

The Hawaiian’s eight-under, fourth-place finish, good for a welcome-to-the-pros paycheck of $53,126, was wiped from the books, her purse withdrawn.

“You know, I learned a great lesson today,” Wie said, her eyes watery. “You know, from now on I’m going to call a rules official no matter what it is. I’m really sad this happened, but, you know, the rules are the rules.”

The late development upstaged an impressive Sorenstam win. Only a thunderstorm moving through the area slowed the Swede’s march to the 64th tournament victory of her career and eighth this year.

With her closest pursuers falling away early and rain and lightning interrupting play three times for delays totaling 3 hours 20 minutes, Sorenstam weathered a test of patience more than anything else in blowing away the field and assuring that she will be the LPGA Tour player of the year for the eighth time, breaking a record she shared with Kathy Whitworth. She pocketed a $212,500 check that pushed her season’s earnings past the $2-million mark for the fifth consecutive year.

“I know Annika was probably sending a statement to the world,” runner-up Paula Creamer said. “You know, ‘I’m still here, I’m still the best player.’ ”

The only player in LPGA Tour history to have banked more than $2 million in a season, she won the 20-player, invitation-only event for the fifth time, joining Mickey Wright as the only players to win the same LPGA event five times.

“I don’t think I need to send a statement to anyone, especially not myself,” said Sorenstam, who is assured of leading the year-end money list for the eighth time. “I know what I’ve achieved. But I am going to tell you, I love the competition. I love the challenge. There is no doubt about it that I wanted to play well this week. ...

“There are always certain tournaments where you feel a little extra heartbeat, where there is a little extra on the line, and this was one of them.”

Creamer, who started the day tied for sixth, closed with a two-under 70 to finish second at 10 under. Gloria Park, with a 74 Sunday, was third at nine under.

Park, who started the day four shots behind Sorenstam in second place, opened her final round with three bogeys in the first four holes. Wie, who trailed by five, opened with three in the first five.

So after Sorenstam made a 22-foot putt for an eagle at the par-five, 470-yard seventh hole, her lead had grown to nine shots and the only drama that remained -- at least until after the final putt had dropped -- was supplied by rolling thunder.

Though Wie struggled early in Sunday’s round, her problems actually began a day earlier, when she hit a five-wood into a bush off the fairway at No. 7. She took an unplayable lie, dropped away from the bush for a one-stroke penalty, then chipped to 15 feet and made par, part of a one-under round of 71.

Late Sunday, with Wie nearing the end of her final round, a spectator approached rules official Robert O. Smith and told him that he believed Wie had taken an improper drop Saturday because she had dropped the ball closer to the hole -- by a matter of six to 18 inches, according to Smith -- than where it had landed originally.

After she finished playing, Wie and her caddy, Greg Johnson, were taken back out to the seventh hole to show officials where the ball had been moved.

It was determined that Wie had violated Rule 20-7, which carries a two-shot penalty, by playing the ball from a “wrong place,” Smith said. Since she didn’t believe at the time that she had violated the rule, Wie didn’t account for a two-shot penalty on her scorecard, so when she signed it, she violated another rule.

“If you sign your scorecard with a score lower than you actually made on the hole, you’re disqualified,” Smith said.

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Up next

PGA TOUR: FUNAI Classic at the Walt Disney World Resort, Lake Buena Vista, Fla.; Thursday-Sunday.

* LPGA TOUR: CJ Nine Bridges Classic at Jeju, South Korea;

Oct. 28-30.

* CHAMPIONS TOUR: SBC Championship at Oak Hills Country Club, San Antonio; Friday-Sunday.