LPGA hopeful issues statement after cheating storm

An LPGA Tour hopeful has issued a statement after being disqualified from Q-School for a rules breach involving her mother, who was spectating at the time.

Doris Chen, a former NCAA champion, was investigated – then disqualified – from the event after a complaint during Friday’s round that she played a ball after her mother had moved it from out of bounds to in play.

A source told GolfChannel.com that a homeowner along the course who was watching the event observed the infraction and provided a description of the woman he saw moving Chen’s ball. The LPGA, the source said, later identified the woman as Chen’s mother, Yuh-Guey Lin.

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“Doris Chen’s drive on the 17th hole in round 7 came to rest out of
bounds,” the LPGA said in a statement. “An outside agency moved her ball
back in bounds.

“Ms. Chen and her caddie were made aware that the ball
had been moved. Doris elected to play the ball, which was a wrong ball
by definition, from its altered lie. Ms. Chen did not correct her error
before teeing off on the next hole, thus resulting in the DQ penalty.”

Last night, Chen issued the following statement on her Twitter account.

She wrote: “Hi all, I’d like to address the recent event. What had happened was a misunderstanding and not my intention for it to happen in any way.

“I did not have any direct involvement, nor was it my intention for it to happen. It was a stressful week and I did my best in terms of resolving it at the moment. Unfortunately, I did not have the best judgment at the moment and this resulted [in] a ruling.

“It was my responsibility as a player to call for a rules official at the time to investigate, whether the event to be true or mistaken. However, I thought I knew the rules clearly.

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“I have to firmly clarify that my caddie, the volunteer nor I at the time who were searching for the ball saw anything suspicious. I did not hear or see anything, nor did I do anything that would interfere.

“I found the ball and hit it. With this I regret that I could not do anything of [sic] help. However, I’ve learned from this lesson and decided to move on. If you could please respect my privacy, and do not further complicate or twist the story in any way I would really appreciate it.

“With God’s grace I decide to move on and will take time to reflect. I also have to thank all the friends who support me and comfort me after this instance. Thank you for your consideration.”