Did two players in the LPGA CN Canadian Women's Open last week commit a rules violation, then conspire to cover it up? That's the allegation that has been made, and that's what the LPGA will now investigate.
Over the weekend, rumors of misconduct emerged following the disqualifications of Shi Hyun Ahn and Il Mi Chung after the first round. Ahn and Chung signed scorecards after they played one another's golf balls on the final fairway and failed to correct their mistake. Later realizing their mistake, they contacted LPGA officials and were DQ'd for signing incorrrect scorecards.
But the rumors - first repeated second-hand by an LPGA caddie on his blog - go like this: Ahn and Chung realized on the green that they had played each other's balls. They conspired to cover it up. They turned themselves in only after a caddie threatened to report them.
Is it true? The LPGA told CBSSports.com's Steve Elling on Sunday it will interview all parties who were in th Ahn-Chung group. Other sources told ScoreGolf.com's Bob Weeks that the LPGA Player Executive Committee would investigate.
The most disquieting part of the allegation is that, according to that original second-hand report, Ahn told her caddie on the green, "You did not see anything."
Keep in mind that there is no confirmation at this point that those words were actually spoken. Also keep in mind that Ahn was working with a new caddie, and that English is Ahn's second language. Is it possible that - assuming those words were even spoken - they were spoken not as a statement but as a question? "You did not see anything?" Could that seemingly outrageous statement actually be a question asked by a player confused about what just happened, to a new caddie who might have had trouble understanding her tone?
We don't know. Which is the point - we don't know anything right now except that allegations have been made, and the LPGA is looking into it.
Stay tuned, and remember: Innocent unless proven guilty.
Update: Here's a Golfweek article with comments from Chung's caddie and info from the third player in the group. A little smoke, but not yet any fire.
Update II: A week after the original allegations, things are only murkier - despite the fact that caddies of bother players have spoken publicly. The issue? They contradict one another. More from Golfweek.
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Comments
Smich needs to concentrate on his career as a caddy rather than trying to smear the reputation of players that have been on tour for many years. Compare Smich’s track record to that of the two players involved. It will clearly show that Smich is nothing but a racist and malicious person who does not even deserve to be a part of the golfing industry. Just because two foreign players talk in their native tongue does not mean that they are conspiring to cheat. “You did not see anything?” was a question, not a statement. Caddies making a mistake and making it appear as cheating is a strong accusation. Both caddies should have rushed to their players when they found out and not talked amonst each other while the players were signing their score cards. They do not have the right to decide if they should tell or not tell. Had they brought up the issue before the players went to the scoring tent, this issue would have resulted in an easy manner. LPGA officials stated that the two players came forward within minutes of finding out what had happened, not the 2 hours that Smich states. Smich’s reputation may be smeared for what you have done in the past, but do not smear the reputations of players who have worked hard to become pro athletes. I guess next time during the World Cup Soccer tournament, all foreign team players should speak in English to the each other. Both players had nothing to gain by trying to cheat as Smich claims. They were not even in contention to make the cut and a 2 stroke penalty would not have hurt them.
Subterfuge won’t work here. Smich may or may not be a dbag, but this is about two players conspiring to cheat. It doesn’t matter if they have been on the tour for years, that they worked hard to become pro players, etc. This is not about FACE, this is about RULES. The LPGA will smoke out the truth, believe that. Why? Because the other players…the ones who DON’T cheat…will demand it.
As soon as you threw out the ‘racist’ accusation you lost all credibility.