Same girl. Same kiss. US Women's Open Trophy.
Posted on 11/16/2009 9:17:31 AM PST by Zuben Elgenubi
Breakthrough comes at LPGA's Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Mexico
The Michelle Wie era has, at long last, begun. After years of injury and controversy, too much hype and money and not enough birdies, Wie won her first pro tournament Sunday afternoon at the LPGA's Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Typical of Wie's highly melodramatic career, the win didn't come easily, as she survived a final round dogfight with a half-dozen of the game's biggest names, ultimately making five straight nerve-jangling pars and then a gorgeous birdie on the final hole to close out a two-stroke victory over Paula Creamer.
Along the way Wie displayed both her awesome talent and her enduring star power, reminding everyone what all the fuss was about in the first place. It was a deeply personal triumph, capping a period of tremendous maturation on and off the golf course.
Having spent her teens bouncing between tours and continents, Wie, 20, had finally found some stability this season as a full-fledged LPGA rookie. Even before her victory at the penultimate tournament of the year, it had been a successful campaign defined by solid results, new friendships and a starring role at the Solheim Cup, during which Wie was overcome by a fist-pumping passion that was utterly foreign for a player who has always worn an icy game face.
The only thing missing was an individual victory, a familiar story for a player who, until Sunday, had not won a tournament of any kind since the 2003 U.S. Publinks Amateur, when she was a 13-year-old with an impossibly perfect swing and an endless future. Back then no one could have imagined another victory would be such a long time coming. But Wie used the many blown chances and missed opportunities as a journey of self-discovery, and along the way the giggly, goofy tween phenom grew into a self-possessed young woman.
A few weeks before leaving for Mexico a reflective Wie told me in an exclusive interview, "I feel like I have talent. I know how to play this game. There's just one last huge hurdle to overcome. I've been trying my best to figure it out and I think what it comes down to is I needed to believe in myself a little more. So now when I play I'm putting myself out there more and really putting myself on the line. The stakes are higher for me but I'm okay with that. I'm so focused on winning and to get that victory I have to give it everything I have. There's no holding back anymore."
The exhilaration of having finally come through was apparent on Sunday when Wie did a charmingly dorky dance on the final green of the Guadalajara Country Club. As much she will treasure this victory, it means even more to her sport. It is poetic that Wie's breakthrough came at Ochoa's tournament; during the awards ceremony on Sunday the reigning world No. 1 simultaneously presented Wie with the trophy and passed the torch. Wie's conquest will resonate from Guadalajara to her native Honolulu to Madison Avenue and all the way to LPGA headquarters in Daytona Beach, Fla., where officials have spent this year furiously trying to keep the tour afloat as their niche sport has lost corporate support during the current economic downturn.
Wie's victory is all the more notable because it came in her first tournament in a month and a half as she has been devoting her focus to pursuing her communications degree at Stanford, where she in her third year. Wie is a full-time student during the fall and winter quarters, from late September to mid-March, and then takes an annual leave of absence as the LPGA schedule heats up. She has a 3.4 GPA and can often be found chilling in her dorm room with a large, eclectic group of friends.
Wie has thrived at Stanford among other high achievers because it has allowed her to "be a normal kid with a normal life," she says. Getting settled in on the LPGA was a little tougher because Wie had never embraced the tour while she spent years dabbling in competition against men (with mostly disastrous results.) By the end of 2008, after two years of substandard play due to a series of wrist injuries, the tournament invitations that once seemed like an entitlement were no longer forthcoming. So Wie swallowed her pride and went through the LPGA's qualifying tournament to secure her playing privileges. "I gained a lot of respect for myself by going through Q School," Wie says.
Her explosive play throughout the season — first on tour in birdie average (4.16 per round), sixth in driving distance (268.1 yards) — earned her a captain's pick to the Solheim Cup in late August, and it was a week that forever changed the trajectory of her career. Buoyed by a putting lesson from Champions tour oracle Dave Stockton, who convinced Wie to employ more feel and stop stressing about her mechanics, she summoned spectacular golf and a flag-waving fervor en route to going 3-0-1 and leading the U.S. to victory.
Having discovered the missing ingredient in her game — passion — it was inevitable she would break through. A month after the Solheim Cup, Wie finished second in the Navistar LPGA Classic despite being hobbled by a badly sprained ankle. It was her second runner-up finish of the year and sixth of her career, but this one felt different — on Twitter, Wie's friend and fellow player Paige MacKenzie hailed her limp as "gangsta swagger."
She brought that confidence to Guadalajara, and years of practice and preparation and want and desire were distilled into four nearly flawless rounds of golf. Golf, as we know it, will never be the same.
heh heh. I laughed out loud.
Same girl. Same kiss. US Women's Open Trophy.
I think she could handle the best player NAFTA has in their organization. She being a pro, and all.
LOL. It’s a wonder humanity has gotten as far as it has, when we men go all giggety giggety over the sight of an exposed belly button.
“LOL. It’s a wonder humanity has gotten as far as it has, when we men go all giggety giggety over the sight of an exposed belly button.”
Belly button? There was a belly button?
Woogitty wooggity...
Exactly correct. She should have learned HOW to win rather than playing at those levels as a youth. Winning a golf tournament is far more complicated than merely playing well. I thought I was a player until I went to Q-school qualifying. That didn’t work out so well. The pressure was enormous - much much more than playing a skins game at the club.
Good points, BSR.
This was the first time Michelle and Tiger Won on the same day.
Were they golf trophies?
[just kidding]
Imagine her reaction when she saw this photo pop up (so to speak) on the web...
You betcha. This one's for YOU.
Review the sections "Tour Talk" and "Golf on TV" at The Golf Channel's Discussion Boards. You'll be amazed at the outright hostility of some of the posters regarding Michelle Wie (she is oftentimes referred to disparagingly as "Bu88les"). And these are supposed avid golfers! I post here under a different moniker and BayNative routinely posts.
Thanks... that’s amazing!
I see you got golf.
Really an outstanding comeback, wgff.
Wie!!!
LONG TIME MY FRIEND!!!
How goes it with you?
Hey, we should celebrate what Michelle did and in the manner in which she won. If anyone wants to go tit for tat, I could bring up Tiger’s latest club toss on Saturday in Melbourne.
In case anyone hasn’t seen the video, the driver went out of his hands on a bad shot, this time going into the massive galleries at the 13th tee.
Come on T. I still think you’re better than that!!!!
Sorry we couldn't make time to attend the outing in August. Really my fault and we'll make up for it soon.
FReegards,
Z
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