Michelle Wie spent the week more than 2,500 miles from her 11th-grade Punahou School classroom, but that doesn't mean she left the Samsung World Championship without getting quite an education.

And, at $53,126, a very expensive one.

That's the amount of the fourth-place check she forfeited because of a disqualification resulting from an apparently inadvertent bad drop that occurred a day earlier in Saturday's third round in Palm Desert, Calif.

So much for beginner's luck in Wie's much-anticipated professional debut.

"I learned a great lesson today," Wie said yesterday after being DQ'ed, technically for signing an incorrect scorecard. "You know, from now on I'm going to call a rule official, no matter what it is, whether it is three inches or 100 yards. I respect that."

Not exactly the "Hello World" debut her sponsors were anticipating but a much-talked about one nevertheless.

Imagine LeBron James being tossed out of his first NBA game on technical fouls. Danica Patrick getting bounced from her Indy 500 debut for an improper lug nut. Or, Freddy Adu getting red-carded in his MLS beginning.

But this was even more bizarre because the infraction of Rule 20-7 — surely that rings a bell — took place on the seventh hole of Saturday's round where Wie, in taking an unplayable lie, was deemed to have dropped the ball, found in the bush, a foot closer to the hole than proper. An event that was inconclusive when video was replayed and subsequently reenacted.

It was a key juncture since she managed to save par en route to a third-round 71. And, except for a Sports Illustrated reporter who chewed on it for a day before calling it to the attention of LPGA rules officials less than an hour before the tournament's conclusion yesterday, the whole episode would have likely gone undetected.

Wie would have gone home feeling good about her debut. And Annika Sorenstam, the tournament's winner, would have finally had the headlines after being in Wie's shadow much of the week.

But as we are learning, when it comes to the precocious Wie, very little that surrounds her is routine. Not much that involves her, whether it be chandelier ear rings or vast driving distance, passes unnoticed or unanalyzed.

Then, there is her sport and its peculiarities. You don't see Major League Baseball turning back the clock on the outcome of a game on a spectator's observation. Though count Angels' manager Mike Scioscia as willing to initiate the policy.

Nor will you catch the NCAA taking calls from TV viewers challenging whether Reggie Bush aided Matt Leinart's game-winning touchdown against Notre Dame on Saturday. Much as some Fighting Irish might like to.

But golf is different and has been since 1876 when, we're told, the first British Open DQ was meted out to Davie Strath. It is a sport where the rule book is sacred and form, which still counts for something, means plenty.

It is also the only sport where rule wonks and viewers can get officials to DQ competitors — and have as Craig Stadler, Paul Azinger and Lee Janzen, among others, can testify.

Wie isn't even the first local golfer to get tripped up by the fine print in the rule book. She is, by virtue of the considerable spotlight that surrounds her, just the most visible.

Nine months ago, Kane'ohe's Dean Wilson was disqualified in the Buick Invitational for leaving the scorer's trailer without signing his scorecard. Forty-eight years ago, the Big Island's Jackie Pung was the apparent winner of the 1957 U.S. Women's Open until it was noticed she filled out her scorecard incorrectly. Marking down a five on the fourth hole instead of a six — the 18-hole total was still correct — cost her a victory and the $1,800 first prize.

Members of the Winged Foot Golf Club in New York eventually raised $3,000 for Pung's consolation prize. No word yet if Nike and Sony, who are underwriting Wie to as much as $10 million per year according to reports, will pass the hat on her behalf.

More likely, it will be chalked up to a 16-year-old's continuing education. And, until recently, the Wies might have thought just the private school part of that education was expensive.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.