Father of LPGA pro reportedly accosts Wie

Advertiser Staff

The father of LPGA Tour veteran Danielle Ammaccapane verbally assaulted Honolulu teenager Michelle Wie Saturday morning before the third round of the U.S. Women's Open in North Plains, Ore., Wie's father, BJ, told ESPN The Magazine.

BJ Wie said Ralph Ammaccapane accosted his family and also threatened him outside the clubhouse at the Witch Hollow Course at Pumpkin Ridge, according to the ESPN Web site.

"I wasn't able to concentrate the whole day Saturday," BJ Wie said yesterday. "I was so worried about my daughter. The old man saying those threatening words was beyond anything I could imagine. I was shaking."

BJ Wie would not disclose what Ralph Ammaccapane said, but he asked the USGA for extra security, according to the online report. USGA communications director Marty Parkes confirmed that the number of security officials assigned to Michelle Wie's group was raised from two — the usual number assigned to "prominent" golfers — to "three or four," the magazine said.

Asked yesterday if he threatened BJ Wie, Ralph Ammaccapane told the magazine: "I have nothing to say about Mr. Wie or his daughter. We've had a week from hell."

The alleged incident followed a reported run-in between Danielle Ammaccapane, 37, and Michelle Wie, 13, after their round Thursday. In that incident, Ammaccapane was said to have given Wie "a talking to" about golf etiquette, according to a USGA official.

BJ Wie initially said Ammaccapane also pushed his daughter on the 14th green during Thursday's round, but retracted that statement Friday. USGA Executive Director David Fay said he was satisfied the matter was resolved after USGA officials met with both parties and Danielle spoke privately with Michelle.

However, on Saturday, BJ Wie told reporters that "something happened this morning that really stirred a lot of things internally and emotionally — for Michelle and myself." He wouldn't elaborate then.

But according to the ESPN magazine report, BJ Wie said Ralph Ammaccapane was perched in front at the clubhouse as the Wie family arrived with Michelle's coach Gary Gilchrist. "Michelle was scared," Wie said. "She was very worried and angry. She had never been harassed by anyone."

Reached by phone Sunday night after her final-round 76, Michelle Wie told the magazine: "I've never been so humiliated in my whole life."