Pardon my bluntness, but this is really getting old.
Last month, Michelle Wie participated in the Sony Open for the third year in a row. She struggled constantly and finished her two day appearance 14 over par, missing the cut by 14 strokes.
Michelle injured her wrist in the tournament and is now sitting out the requisite four to six weeks to let it heal, which may or may not keep her from playing in thes year's Kraft Nabisco Championship. Forgive me for not holding my breath awaiting her return.
I appreciate that Michelle is/was a teen phenom who absolutely obliterated all of the competition her age prior to turning pro, and in doing so created a lot of buzz as the next big thing, the next marketing hook for the LPGA and/or PGA to hang their hat on. Unfortunately, Michelle has now competed in six PGA tour events - three trips to the Sony Open, two John Deere Classic, and the final 84 Lumber Classic last year - and has only come within three strokes of making the cut once (while missing the cut by at least 10 strokes three times). Overall, for her career, she has participated in 46 events and has only one victory, three years ago.
There are several things at play here. First is that the LPGA is trying to turn her into the next Annika Sorenstam - highly popular, successful, and attractive female who goes and plays with the boys. Only one problem there. The main reason Sorenstam made the foray into the PGA as she did was that she was dominating almost every tournament she played in on the LPGA circuit - it was a move to find new challenges, not just new marketing opportunities.
They (executives) are also trying to make her the next Tiger - pumping the phenom status, look at what she can do, forget what she can't do... which completely ignores the fact that there probably won't be another Tiger. Ever.
Article comments
1 - Rodney
Sorry, but so many of the things listed in the article as facts are just wrong. I can give a full list of corrections if interested.
2 - Christopher Rose
If they made a game for her, would it be called Wie Wii?
;-)
3 - geeves
do tell, rodney, since every one of those facts was pulled from that horrid tribe of liars known as Wikipedia.
4 - lynette
what exactly was incorrect about it, the fact that her results at men's tournaments seem to only get worse each time she attempts to make the cut,or the fact that she still hasn't won an LPGA event? I don't think the added scrutiny she receives is unjustified. She has an endorsement portfolio that pays her millions of dollars a year because of her "potential." At what point is it acceptable to expect her potential to become kinetic? Look at the tennis teen phenoms, Martina Hingis, the William's sisters, Maria Sharapova. They didn't start getting big money endorsements until after they won tournaments, and not just any tournaments, major tournaments, and not before. The touting of Michelle Wie is a testament to how weak golf is, that the biggest star on the LPGA is the equivalent to Anna Kournikova.
5 - geeves
Here Rodney, I'll do my own fact-checking, going with her official LPGA.com profile and stat sheet, which you can read for yourself.
"Michelle has now competed in six PGA tour events - three trips to the Sony Open, two John Deere Classic, and the final 84 Lumber Classic last year - and has only come within three strokes of making the cut once (while missing the cut by at least 10 strokes three times)."
2004 Sony Open (PGA) 72-68=140 (E) MC (by 1)
2005 Sony Open (PGA) 75-74=149 (+9) MC (by 7)
2005 John Deere Classic (PGA) 70-71=141 (-1) MC (by 2)
2006 John Deere Classic (PGA) 77 WD
2006 84 Lumber Classic (PGA) 77-81 = 158 (+14) MC (by 14)
2006 Sony Open (PGA) 79-68=147 (+7) MC (by 4)
that looks like six to me - though i was wrong, she only missed the cut by 10+ twice (in the 06 JDC she withdrew halfway through her second round and was on pace (with an even par back nine) to finish 10 shots off the cut)
Overall, for her career, she has participated in 46 events and has only one victory, three years ago."
Correct. 46 events, plus three qualifiers.
No victories listed on her stats, but...
2003 Wie won the USGA Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship, defeating Virada Nirapathpongporn during the 36-hole final 1 up to become the youngest USGA champion (adult events) at age 13.
"Sure, she blew everyone away in 2003 when she took the Amateur Links as a 14-year-old."
There's our one win. at age 13, not age 14, my mistake.
"She then finished her "amateur" career with four appearances in the Kraft Nabisco Championship (9th/4th place finishes) and U.S. Women's Open (39th and 13th place finishes)."
2003 Kraft Nabisco Championship (LPGA) 72-74-66-76=288 (E) T9
2004 Kraft Nabisco Championship (LPGA) 69-72-69-71=281 (-7) 4
2003 U.S. Women’s Open conducted by the USGA (LPGA) 73-73-76-76=298 (+14) T39
2004 U.S. Women’s Open conducted by the USGA (LPGA) 71-70-71-73=285 (+1) T13
2005 Kraft Nabisco Championship (LPGA) 70-74-73-71= 288 (E) T14
2005 McDonald’s LPGA Championship Presented by Coca-Cola (LPGA) 69-71-71-69=280 (-8) 2
2005 U.S. Women’s Open conducted by the USGA (LPGA) 69-73-72-82=296 (+12) T23
My mistake in not technically including these.
"In the meantime, the last two years have brought about a more respectable five top-five finishes at LPGA events."
I misunderstood exactly when during 2005 she turned pro (about 2/3 through the season apparently, a very strange time to do it, especially since she isn't ACTUALLY a pro). I thought those #2 and #3 finishes were after her turn, not before.
so i made a mistake about her age and exactly when she turned "pro" - the first mistake made her look like LESS of a washed up prodigy than she is, and the other is really irrelevant.
6 - geeves
so she came a LITTLE closer than i said in making the cut at the PGA events.
that still doesn't change the fact that she COULDNT EVEN MAKE THE CUT. she couldn't crack the top HALF of the field she was playing in.
7 - Rodney
Okay Geeves,
Mistakes were as follows:
1. six PGA tour events,
- yes that was 7.
2. has only come within three strokes of making the cut once,
- that should have been twice.
3. (while missing the cut by at least 10 strokes three times)
- she only missed the cut by at least 10 strokes 2 times on the pga tour. The Sony 2007 and the Lumber event.
4. Wie had never really done anything prior to this. Sure, she blew everyone away in 2003 when she took the Amateur Links as a 14-year-old.
- She was 13 when she won that.
5. She then finished her "amateur" career with four appearances in the Kraft Nabisco Championship (9th/4th place finishes) and U.S. Women's Open (39th and 13th place finishes).
- As you noted she played more than that as an amateur.
6. In the meantime, the last two years have brought about a more respectable five top-five finishes at LPGA events.
- In the last two years on the lpga tour, she has had 10 top five finishes. She had 4 in 2005, and 6 in 2006.
So that is six major mistakes in your article. That's why I didn't bother responding to it straight away.
If you could make those mistakes, it shows that your really haven't followed her career that closely.
If you had, perhaps you would have noted that:
- she was the youngster qualifier to an lpga event.
- the youngest cut maker at a major.
- she won leading amateur 6 times at lpga majors.
- she holds the record total scores for an amateur at each of the 4 lpga majors.
- she was the youngest ever winner of an adult usga title.
- she was the first women in over 60 years to make a cut on one of the 6 mens pga tours.
- she was the first woman to ever get through local qualifying for the US Open.
- she was the first woman to qualify for the US Amateur mens publinx, and she got to the quarter final there. She was the youngest quarter finalist at that event.
The girl has done plenty. That's why I resented you saying:
Wie had never really done anything prior to this.
Surely if you read some of what she has done, you know that you were wrong in that statement.
8 - RJ Elliott
Yabut, has she posed semi-nude on the cover of Stuff Magazine yet?
9 - Tony
Ok Geeves, I take acception to the comment that MW obliterated the competition in her age group before turning pro--that's wrong. How many USGA Jr Girls titles? How many USGA Jr boys titles? How many AJGA titles of any note did she win before turning pro? She hangs her hat on one victory -- Women's PubLinx with a USGA qualifying handicap of 18.4!
Rodney, my response to the list of accomplishments--youngest this, that; first women this, that--SO WHAT!! Win some tournaments, stop making excuses--that would be impressive.
10 - geeves
i'll presume you arent referring to anything i said, sinc ei made no mention of her obliterating anything (other than maybe her wrist).
11 - Tony
Geeves,
Huh??? Are you awake? Paragraph 4, sentence 1 above, by you:
"I appreciate that Michelle is/was a teen phenom who absolutely obliterated all of the competition her age prior to turning pro, and in doing so created a lot of buzz as the next big thing, the next marketing hook for the LPGA and/or PGA to hang their hat on."