Doris Chen says she is heartbroken and frustrated.She had a lot to say when she returned a call to GolfChannel.com late Sunday, responding to a request to hear her side of why she was disqualified from the LPGA's Q-Series last weekend.Chen was DQd after the LPGA investigated a complaint that she played a ball that she had hit out of bounds after her mother moved the ball back in bounds.The LPGA said in a statement that Chen was penalized for violating Rule 15-3b even after she was informed that an outside agency moved her ball. Shes a former teen phenom who won the U.S. Girls Junior title in 2010 and then the NCAA womens individual championship while at USC in 2014.I feel hurt, Chen said. People are calling me a cheater, with inflammatory words. Im not a cheater. I never intend to cheat, and Ive never told my family or friends to move my ball if I push my shot in the woods.The story gets complicated for Chen, because two hours after she returned the call, a key observer also returned GolfChannel.coms call seeking details of what really happened last Friday in the trees along the 17th hole at Pinehurst No. 7.Alex Valer, Chens caddie, said he hates being involved in the public untangling of the events, but he is frustrated by the explanation Chen is now giving and he feels a responsibility to set the record straight.
Its a mess, Valer said. Doris did the wrong thing. Im just trying to do the right thing, to be fair to all those players at Q-Series who have worked so hard for a whole year.Chen told GolfChannel.com that after pulling her drive left into the trees at the 17th last Friday, she and Valer and a volunteer searched for the ball, until a spectator announced she found it, in a bad lie in pine needles next to a tree.Chen said when she set up at her ball, a woman came out of the back of a house alongside that hole.A homeowner came to me and said she saw somebody kick the ball from a good lie to a bad lie, Chen said. She did not mention that the ball was out of bounds.Chen said she did not know whether the homeowner accurately saw what happened, because the home was below a small incline where the ball was found. Chen said she chose to play the ball because she believed even if the ball was kicked, it was still a live ball and should be played where it lies. She also said she remembered watching TV years ago when something similar unfolded, where a fan moved Tiger Woods ball and Woods was instructed to play it where it lies.Chen said her mother, Yuh-Guey Lin, was following her that day, but her mother was further up ahead on the hole and wasnt witness to the conversations taking place.My mother said she didnt move the ball, Chen said. She doesnt know what happened.Chen said she felt pressure during all of this, because her group was on the clock and rushing to get back in position.Apparently, the homeowner told the LPGA later that the ball was moved from out of bounds to in bounds, Chen said. I swear to God that is not what she told me. My caddie was a witness. He heard it.Valer remembers the events unfolding differently.Valer said neither he nor Chen saw the ball being moved, but while they were looking for the ball, it was Chens mother who announced she discovered the ball.And when Chen and Valer set up to assess the lie, a woman came running from out of a nearby house, with the woman telling them that the ball was moved by a spectator. She was pointing directly at Chens mother.She said That person right there kicked your ball, Valer said.Valer said he didnt know if Chens ball was lying out of out of bounds when it was moved, but the fact that they were so close to being out of bounds, and that Chens mother was being accused of moving the ball, made the circumstances a potential disaster.
Valer said he told Chen that they needed to call a rules official.Doris said, No, Im going to play the ball, Valer said. I told her, If you dont talk to a rules official, you could be disqualified.Valer said he was upset Chen played the shot, but he told her it still wasnt too late to call a rules official. He said as they walked to the 18th green, he tried one more time, insisting they call a rules official.I told her, If you sign the scorecard, there is a possibility you will be disqualified, Valer said.Valer said Chen asked him to keep quiet about the details of what happened, but when LPGA rules officials questioned him afterward about a possible rules violation, he told them what he saw and heard.The rules officials then went back and spoke to the homeowners.GolfChannel.com contacted the LPGA for a reaction to Valers version of events.We have thoroughly reviewed the facts in this case (both prior to the ruling and afterwards) and there is no ambiguity in the facts or the ruling, the LPGA rules committee responded in a statement. The player has accepted the penalty and any further dialogue on this matter will be between the LPGA and the player.Valer is a regular LPGA and Symetra Tour caddie, but this was his first event working with Chen. He worked with Katelyn Sepmoree this year.As a caddie, I know these players and how hard they work, Valer said. Ive never been in a position like this before, and Im just trying to do whats right.
DesMoinesRegister.com Solheim Cup captains Juli Inkster, Annika Sorenstam stage first-tee dance-off DesMoinesRegister.com They've long been golf-course royalty, but Juli Inkster and Annika Sorenstam staged a short battle Sunday for the title of Solheim Cup Dancing Queen.
Juli Inkster adds to American golfing legacy with second
This week's Cut Line is quintessential West Coast, from the celebrated (Phil Mickelson's Clambake Slam) to the ubiquitous gridlock (slow-and-go progress to solidify future venues for the BMW
Cut Line: Tiger Woods, Valspar - Todays Sports News
Jordan Spieth making progress after second straight top 10: 'I know exactly what I need to work on' So when I look back it's just frustrating to be a few over on the round when I feel
Fowler finished his second round and is in a tie for the lead at 10-under par, along with Patton Kizzire and Patrick Rodgers. Johnson, Tringale and Byrd, meanwhile, are all safely inside the cut line.
Casual Saturday as pros wear robes to watch Rickie at OHL Classic
Watch PGA Tour LIVE highlights from Round 3 of the Honda Classic, where Rickie Fowler gets Schauffele highlight featured groups at Memorial Thomas, Fowler top Honda highlights from Round 2
PGA TOUR LIVE on NBC Sports Gold
Three-times major champion Padraig Harrington said on Tuesday he has withdrawn from this week's PGA Tour St. Jude Classic in Memphis after suffering an elbow injury in a bizarre accident. The
Padraig Harrington sustains freak elbow injury - The Irish World
Will Any One-Loss Team Climb Back Into Playoff Contention? By Alex Koslow Since 1998, when the BCS championship game began, seven teams, including last year's Ohio State team in the first year of the College Football Playoffs, had at least one loss.
Quicken Loans National: Tiger Woods climbs - Sporting News
Little Mix are a British girl group formed in 2011 during the eighth series of the UK version of The X Factor.They were the first group to win the competition, and following their victory, they signed with Simon Cowell's record label Syco Music and released a cover of Damien Rice's "Cannonball" as their winner's single.
Joseph Ivy, DJ/MC - DJ Chandler, AZ | GigMasters
It helped make up for the fact that she couldn't swing a club and that her clothing, at the moment, wasn't suited for the weather. she needed to "take some time away it's overly
Golf News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos
The 50 leaders on the Final Official World Golf Ranking for the previous calendar year; The 50 leaders on the Official World Golf Ranking published during the week prior to the current Masters Tournament; The Masters Committee, at its discretion, also invites international players not otherwise qualified. Source: Augusta National Golf Club
"I wish we could play in front of crowds like this every single week because this is a true pleasure," Woods said. talking about Koepka's game with the same kind of awe Woods' elders used to
Keegan Bradley, Jason Dufner share PGA Championship lead
The PGA is tightening security at the WGC-Dell Match Play in Austin, Texas, this week in the wake of four unsolved bombings in the city this month. Two people have been killed and several others injured in the bombings that police believe is the work of a serial bomber. The PGA Tour issued a
PGA tightens security at Dell Match Play in wake of Austin
0 Comments