When Michelle Wie shined her way through a question at a Sony Open in Hawai'i press conference a while back, a national reporter noted with awe, "she's learned to fib impressively."

Sadly, the ability to obfuscate might be Team Wie's biggest accomplishment these last several months.

For sure there's been nothing to write home about on the golf course, where, in the latest bizarre twist, Wie made a controversial withdrawal yesterday from the Ginn Tribute in Mount Pleasant, S.C. after soaring to 14 over par through 16 holes, citing a "tweaked" wrist.

If you're keeping score, her last few competitive rounds since the first announced wrist injury at Samsung in November, where she finished 17th out of 20 golfers, have looked like this: 17-over for two days at Casio, 14-over for two days at Sony, and, now, this.

You'd like for somebody, anybody, in the Wie camp to stand up and come clean about what the state of her wrists really is. Trot out a doctor. Someone who can shed some reliable light on her slump because her credibility is declining faster than her phenom status.

Yesterday, the speculation about Wie's wrist and game only deepened when she withdrew upon approaching the so-called "88 rule" that says a non-LPGA Tour player who shoots an 88 or higher is prohibited from playing in other LPGA events for the year.

Wie, playing courtesy of a sponsor's exemption, withdrew two bogeys shy of an 88 with two holes to play. Her departure came right after she was stopped by her management representative, Greg Nared of the William Morris Agency, to confer. The Charlotte Observer reported Nared had not talked to her earlier but had been on the phone for several minutes before stopping Wie, who "seemed surprised when Nared interrupted her."

Wie claimed the withdrawal was injury related and maintained she wasn't even familiar with the "88 rule." Something not all that far-fetched considering Team Wie's infamous past ignorance of rules and etiquette. Even yesterday, the New York Times suggested there was a possibility her father, BJ, might earn her a two-stroke penalty for "outside coaching" had playing partners pushed a case.

Wie's explanation for her withdrawal invited skepticism when she was unable or unwilling to pinpoint where "in the middle of the round" she "tweaked" the wrist. The New York Times said one of Wie's playing partners, Alena Sharp, "said she did not see Wie struggling with her wrist. She had made no outward signs, other than her terrible round, that she was hurting."

Doubts about the extent of her injuries are hardly a surprise at this point. We've been left to speculate on what's wrong with her wrists and just how much they might be impacting her increasingly feeble play. We're encouraged to wonder if her sponsors or management are in too much of a hurry to get her back on the course. Theories of burnout abound.

All largely because Wie and her camp have steadfastly refused to address her injuries and declining play for months. We see prominently displayed wrist wraps but, except for dismissive banalities, hear little of substance in the way of explanations.

Three days ago during an LPGA press conference Wie said, "I don't really want to go into the details of it (the wrists)" but maintained, "it's all better now..." So much so that she said she'd definitely play in next week's LPGA Championship.

Earlier, here in Hawai'i, reporters were told they could talk to her but she would not answer any questions about injuries, even as she began accepting sponsor's exemptions for both PGA and LPGA events.

Yesterday, when The Golf Channel's Kay Cockerill asked Wie if she might have come back a little too soon, her response was, "Well, you know I'm not really sure. I mean, it felt good in practice rounds. I mean, it didn't really hurt but playing in a tournament is completely different..."

Clearly, only part of what the 17-year-old Wie says is her own message. While it is her lips that move, the substance is often coming from elsewhere on the deep Team Wie bench.

Someone over there ought to rethink the current strategy because it is hurting Wie as much or more than anything her wrist might be doing.

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