Michelle Wie was disqualified on Sunday for taking an illegal drop in the Samsung World Championship. Wie, who finished in fourth place with a 74 before she was disqualified, said that she “learned a great lesson. From now on, [she will] call a rules official no matter where it is”.

Apparently, her ball, which was hit into the bushes, was incorrectly dropped. According to the rules officials, the ball was dropped one foot closer to the hole, and she should have added two strokes to her third-round score.

Had Wie qualified for fourth place, she would have earned a prize of $53,126. However, that was the least of her worries. Breaking the rules on her professional debut was probably much more painful than missing out on the prize money.

I agree with GolfBlogger’s view on this DQ that it is quite trivial. With the number of people watching the event, and undoubtedly waiting for the first time pro to slip up, why did no one catch it until a day after the fact? It is also highly unlikely that Wie would even think about being dishonest in such a situation where she needs to prove that she belongs in the pros.