Faced with four teenaged professionals—and possibly more to come—LPGA Tour Commissioner Carolyn Bivens has convened the commissioners of other major sports to figure out how to deal with teen pros and to make sure they are ready for professional life.

The others invited include David Stern (NBA), Gary Bettman (NHL), Don Garber (MLS), Bivens and Larry Scott, chairman and CEO of the WTA Tour.

This is forward thinking, because it’s inevitable that more teens will press forward into the professional ranks. And I envision more lawsuits charging that professional sports leagues are denying teens an opportunity to make money. My understanding is that right now, it’s the collective bargaining agreements that are keeping the teens away in the NBA, NHL and NFL. But I wonder how that applies to voluntary associations like the PGA and LPGA.

Perhaps some lawyers out there can give us a better understanding of the situation.

The Golf Channel has a roundup of different player reactions to the Wie disqualification. The consensus seems to be that the DQ was warranted, but that the timing was all wrong.

“I’ve never been a big fan of that,” Woods said Tuesday when asked about people outside of the ropes calling violations. “But unfortunately it’s part of the game. And the problem I thought, it was a day late with Michelle.”

“I think it was really fair of the guy who did it. It (just) should have been handled differently; he should have called it before she signed her scorecard,” said world No. 2 Vijay Singh.

Sean O’Hair offered himself as an example of how it should have been handled. Apparently during the WGC-American Express Championship two weeks ago, playing partners Singh and David Toms brought to his attention a bad drop before the round was over, allowing him to avoid signing a bad card.

I have to agree with many of the players that it’s the timing of the thing that makes it look so bad.

I’ve been reading about last weekend’s disqualification of Michelle Wie, and the more I think about it, the more I think it smells.

Now, I wasn’t there, but I find it hard to believe that no one at the time—no one in the audience, or the announcers, or the guys in the booth watching the feeds, noticed that it was closer to the hole. I can’t seem to find any evidence that people were calling in from home, as they have with other televised rules infractions.

And clearly, Wie didn’t think it was. Nor did her caddy. If they had any doubt at all, it would have been no matter to resolve the problem at the time.

No, it took a Sports Illustrated reporter a whole day to figure it out. And even after a review of the tape, it still wasn’t clear.

Now the truth may be that the ball was closer to hole. (Although it strains credulity that they could determine that a day later). But it certainly looks an awful lot like LPGA officials doing their best to put the 16-year-old non-LPGA member in her place.

If would have been a lot better for officials to decide that the evidence was inconclusive (I dont’ see how, a day later, it could have been otherwise) and defer to the honesty of the player. Instead, they cast a shadow on Wie’s first professional experience.

It’s not exactly a “Hello World, I’m Tiger Woods” moment.

Michelle Wie, in her first professional tournament was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard after making a bad drop on Saturday.

Her offense was that—in taking a drop—the ball ended up closer to the hole than it started.

Apparently, rules officials were alerted to the offense by Sports Illustrated reporter Michael Bamberger. A review of videotape was inconclusive, so they took Wie and her caddy back to the scene of the crime, had them identify the spot and then measured it with string.

Wie said that the ball may have been about three inches closer. Officials said it was a foot.

I don’t know how anyone could make such a determination a day later. I know as a coach and rules official for high school golf that it’s hard enough to make a determination later in the same day.

More at ESPN.

Golf Digest has an article on the looming competition between Michelle Wie and Morgan Pressel. This could be the Arnold v Jack matchup that sparks women’s golf.

They’ve got some very marketable stars right now, and if the new commissioner plays it right, the LPGA could really up its exposure, the payouts—and possibly even the quality of the golf.

How’s it going to elevate the golf? My theory is that as tthe stakes go higher, the players will become more competitive. And the fastest way to take down your competition is to improve your short game, which in my opinion is the weakest part of the women’s game.