Wie, Ammaccapane ordeal puts a new focus on caddies

NORTH PLAINS, Ore. -- The father of a golf prodigy went to the Portland area to caddie for his kid, but a fight broke out and he turned over the job to someone else.

"I was tired," Earl Woods said Monday, recalling the one time he worked for Tiger in the 1994 Pacific Northwest Amateur.

"I would be walking along, carrying his bag, and with those long legs of his, he was gone," he said. "He'd say, 'Hurry up, Dad.' I said, 'Are you at your ball yet? No. Are you ready for another club? No. When you are, I'll be there.'

"We fought like that all day."

Woods was 8 up after the first 18 holes when his dad decided to hire a local caddie for the afternoon round. It didn't last long, as Woods disposed of Ted Snavely, 11 and 10, at Royal Oaks in Vancouver, Wash.

At least this tale had a happy ending.

That wasn't the case at the U.S. Women's Open.

Memorable scene

By the time 13-year-old Michelle Wie finished her first Women's Open in a tie for 39th, her prodigious drives had become lost in a bizarre series of developments:

Her father accused Danielle Ammaccapane of purposely bumping his daughter after a long list of etiquette violations in the opening round. The next day, B.J. Wie retracted his allegations.

The Wies said Ammaccapane, 37, berated the teenager in the scoring tent Thursday, telling her, "You're the worst kid I've ever seen play golf. You'll never make it to the LPGA. "

Ammaccapane's only comment Friday was that if B.J. Wie was going to say bad things about her, "He's going to get an ear full from my father."

B.J. Wie said Ralph Ammaccapane threatened him the next morning.

Swing coach Gary Gilchrist caddied for Wie in the final round.

"I fired myself," B.J. Wie said. "I've caused too much trouble."

More trouble ahead

But before leaving Pumpkin Ridge, he predicted more problems down the road.

"There were how many amateurs this week, 21? And 14 teenagers?" Wie said. "Next year, there will be more. And there will be other fathers causing the problems."

Banning parents as caddies is not an easy solution.

Not everyone can afford $1,000 or more for a real caddie, although the Wies have managed to finance a year of professional golf for their daughter -- six LPGA events, two of them majors, and two tournaments later this summer against the men on the Nationwide and Canadian tours.

Blend teenagers with players making a living on the links, stir in the unwritten rules of being a caddie, add doting parents, and it's a recipe for disaster.

Still, this version of Caddiegate could have been avoided.

The USGA likes to get cute with its pairings, which is why Wie, Ammaccapane and Tracy Hanson wound up together for two rounds.

Overlooked were rumors that B.J. Wie was getting in the way of other players and Ammaccapane's reputation for having a short fuse.

Ammaccapane has never been known for her charm. Her tone -- described as closer to a drill sergeant than Aunt Bee -- appeared out of line.

"Would she have talked like that to someone else, someone who is 40 years old?" USGA executive director David Fay said. "Probably not, because she might have gotten a fist in the mouth."