Posted on 07/30/2008 10:00:51 PM PDT by fhayek
Michelle Wie returns to playing tournament golf with the professional men this week, and given her propensity to produce drama of all sorts, it should be interesting.
We know this: She'll have somebody baby-sitting her while she signs her scorecard. Wie learned yet another lesson the hard way two weeks ago when she was disqualified from the LPGA Tour's State Farm Classic after forgetting to sign her scorecard after the second round. At this week's PGA Tour Legends Reno-Tahoe Open, it will be the scores on the card that will create the buzz, positive or not.
Wie, 18, is competing on the PGA Tour for the eighth time in four years, and she has yet to make a cut. She said at the season's outset that she would focus on playing against women, but that has changed because she has only one exemption remaining on the LPGA for the year and is at least $80,000 short of earning her card for 2009.
She has yet to gain full-time status on the LPGA since turning pro at 16, when several sponsors awarded her contracts worth $10 million. Those same sponsors have to be wondering what the return on their investment has been, because Wie's pro career has been littered with controversies, criticism and injuries.
Last week, PGA Tour journeyman Jay Williamson told Golf Channel it was “a joke” that Wie was given an exemption for Reno.
“I don't even know who that is,” Wie responded last week in a press conference to promote the tournament. “I don't even read that kind of stuff. People are going to say what they want to say
“People are going to write hateful stuff about me, and that's fine with me. All I can control is how I play. And if I shoot some low scores and win some tournaments, it's going to be hard to write bad stuff about me.”
Hampered by wrist injuries for more than a year, Wie had been in a downward spiral until the State Farm Classic in Illinois two weeks ago. There, she shot 67-65-67 to get to within one stroke of the lead, only to learn after Saturday's round she had been disqualified for signing her Friday scorecard outside the scoring area after a volunteer had to track her down.
“I pretty much went from a really high to a really low in about two seconds flat,” Wie said. “That was a record for me, but I think I learned a lesson, at least while I was 18, not when I'm like 26, or near the end of my career.”
Wie, a freshman at Stanford last year, said she got calls of encouragement from LPGA players, including Meg Mallon and Cristina Kim. “They were talking about their bloopers they made, and people forget about them,” Wie said. “I'm sure a lot of other players have learning experiences like this.”
Wie's agreement to play at the Montreux Golf & Country Club in Reno is consistent with her previous attempts on the PGA Tour. She has played four times in the Sony Open in her home state of Hawaii, twice in the John Deere Classic in Illinois and once in the now-defunct 84 Lumber Classic in Pennsylvania. All are second-level tour events that don't attract most of the top players.
This week, the Legends tournament is going up against the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone in Akron, Ohio, which invites the top-50 ranked players in the world.
Responding to the criticism of Wie's invitation, Legends Tournament Director Michael Stearns said, “At this point, I think Michelle is a great player. She has established herself as one of the more recognizable players of our time ... There are always too many people on the bubble (for exemptions), no matter who it is. There is always going to be somebody there, and the only thing I would like to say is, play better so you won't have that issue.”
not guilty!
It’s a joke. She won’t make the cut, taking up a slot for a male player. Guys can’t go over to the LPGA and fill up a slot, even though probably none would want to.
It’d be more of a danger on the LPGA side anyway as they’d have a much better chance of making the cuts and taking some of the purse money.
Her father should be prosecuted for child abuse.
Why is that? What is up with her dad?
He has pushed her to perform and embarrasement since she was a little girl. Typical overbearing parent trying to live ($$$$) through a child.
While she seems to be making poor choices for her future competitive success, one cannot argue against the fact that she is doing well. She’s in the top 5 among all women athletes in earnings. She’ll already a multi-millionaire well before she turns 21. There is no shortage of women with more sporting success, major victories, etc... but few can top her economic success. I can’t think of any other reason for choosing to continue with the PGA events. She’s clearly made her choice, and it’s continuing to be successful. Good for her.
Golf wouldn’t have Tiger either as one could make the same argument against his dad.
We wouldn’t have the Williams’ sisters in tennis if their dad didn’t set goals for them to become the best tennis players in the world.
Often it does take a dedicated parent to drive their child to be better than they could have ever been on their own.
It’s one thing if they were humiliating their child when they knew the kid didn’t have enough raw talent or hated the sport they were practicing in, or as you said, were trying to live or re-live their own glory days through their kid. It’s another thing if that isn’t the case.
She makes $$$ for Daddy on her looks, alone.
Has she won any major tourneys recently???
Mens? Womens?
She gets her picture posted here like she is a superstar...
And she’s 18?
Not guilty
Let her play
you rule dude!
Has she won something yet?
Prediction: She’ll be a subpar golfer her whole life, but she’ll lead all LPGA golfers for years to come in endorsement money. If there is a product in south korea, her face is slapped on it.
She’s an asian golfing version of Anna Kournikova and even worse with the diva attitude.
Both of them are classless jerks, not just him.
Tiger Woods backs up his endorsements by winning.
She’s just a face thats endorsing everything but the kitchen sink in south korea right now.
Economic success, yes.
Sporting success, 0.
Smoke’um if you got um, but she’s a joke in the world of sports when it comes to her actual game play.
True, Her father pushed her to turn pro at 16. She should have finished high school and at least two years of college like Tiger. That way she would grow in both maturity and game performance.
He was chasing the money, and she has gotten it. In the process, she has screwed up her career and done dumb things, like not knowing the rules backwards and forwards.
But dad is happy now with his home in Hawaii and his home in Palm Desert, CA supposedly so Michelle can practice and be closer to the tournaments. Funny how the other pro golfers like Tiger got the hell out of CA to avoid the outrageous income taxes. Wonder why Michelle did not take up residence in Florida and save a bundle on taxes.
Pulling out of the Women’s British Open (a Major), just so she can (again) *try* to make the cut at some undistinguished men’s event in Reno, is not the kind of stunt that a serious athlete would do.
No argument... just sayin’ that she’s laughing all the way to the bank. Whether it is her focus or her parents’ focus, she clearly is choosing economic success over sporting success, and she is doing well at that particular game.
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