Golf: Wie penalised two shots

LYTHAM - Teenager Michelle Wie was handed a two-shot penalty in the second round of the women's British Open at Royal Lytham & St Anne's on Friday.

The 16-year-old Hawaiian was penalised after touching a lump of moss on her backswing in a greenside bunker at the 14th hole.

It turned a five into a triple-bogey seven and a round of 72 into a 74. She finished on four-over-par 148, 10 shots off the lead held by Juli Inkster, although safely inside the cut mark.

Wie learned of the penalty when she walked off the 18th green.

"I knew I hit the moss but thought if you swung through it was OK," she said. "I guess I knew the rule wrong, but that's what happens when you're 16. It's a learning experience."

It is the second time in her nine-month professional career that Wie has fallen foul of the rule book.

On her professional debut in October, she was disqualified for inadvertently dropping the ball nearer the hole after taking a penalty drop out of bush in the third round of the Women's World Championship at Bighorn in California.

The incident was reported after the final round by a journalist covering the tournament.

- REUTERS