RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. -- Lexi Thompson had no idea why LPGA Tour rules official Sue Witters was approaching her on the way to the 13th tee during the final round at the ANA Inspiration.
When she found out, Thompson still couldn't believe it.
A television viewer's email had alerted officials to a day-old rules violation by Thompson for a 1-inch ball placement error. Her 3-shot lead had just been wiped out by a 4-shot penalty.
"Is this a joke?" Thompson asked Witters.
After being assured it wasn't, she responded: "This is ridiculous."
Thompson, 22, survived the shock and tears, and she forced a playoff with three birdies that had the Dinah Shore Course crowd on its feet.
But So Yeon Ryu managed to take advantage of the break created by Thompson's extraordinary penalty.
Ryu birdied the playoff hole to win the LPGA Tour's first major of the year Sunday after Thompson was blindsided for an infraction she had accidentally committed 24 hours earlier.
Thompson, the U.S. Olympian who won here in 2014, was left stunned by the decision that stopped her from cruising to what looked like an easy victory. The ruling cost her more than a strong chance at her second major title: Ryu won $405,000 with the victory, and Thompson went home with just over $250,000 in second place.
"Every day is a learning process," said Thompson, who still stopped to sign dozens of autographs after her heartbreak. "I wasn't expecting what happened today, but ... it happens, and I'll learn from it and hopefully do better."
The fateful email arrived during Sunday's final round, alerting officials to the violation committed Saturday. Thompson marked a 1-foot putt with a coin on the 17th green during her third round, but she replaced the ball perhaps 1 inch out of position.
After an extensive video review, Thompson was penalized 2 strokes for an incorrect ball placement and 2 strokes for an incorrect scorecard. Witters regretfully explained the penalty to Thompson.
"I can't go to bed tonight knowing I let a rule slide," Witters said. "It's a hard thing to do, and it made me sick, to be honest with you."
so someone watching on tv e-mails something to some LPGA knob, and a day after this infraction, they act and penalize for something the tournament officials didn't catch on the day it actually happened
I understand the rules but this seems completely ridiculous to me ... Thompson got screwed