When are missed cuts worth more than top 10's--
On Golf | Young Wie is still a noveltyBy Joe Logan
Inquirer Columnist
GLADSTONE, N.J. - As Michelle Wie marched up the fairway Friday in her second-round victory during the Women's World Match Play Championship, she had the confident bearing of a young woman on top of the world.
She should be confident. Since the golf phenom turned 16 and became a professional on the same day last October, she has been both rich and famous.
Nike and Sony pay the statuesque teen an estimated $10 million a year in endorsement money. Everywhere she plays, Wie attracts fans and reporters, be it the John Deere Classic on the PGA Tour, the U.S. Open qualifier, or this weekend's Match Play.
With all the publicity Wie brings, especially to the respect- and attention-starved LPGA, does there seem to be a sense of indifference, if not resentment, toward her?
"She does get a lot of attention; that's the truth," Morgan Pressel, 18, a promising LPGA rookie who is both a contemporary and rival of Wie's, said Friday. "She's a great player, and the public is fascinated with the fact that she hits the ball a long way and that she's very tall and wants to play with men."
Then, with just the slightest hint of jealousy, Pressel added, "She's got it made."
Egos being what they are, jealousy is understandable. After all, just as Pressel and others on the LPGA Tour can't help but notice all the fuss over Wie, they also can't help but notice that she hasn't made a cut on the PGA Tour, her highly touted attempt to qualify for the U.S. Open a few weeks ago fell short, and she hasn't won on the LPGA Tour. In the Match Play quarterfinals yesterday, she was eliminated by Brittany Lincicome, 4 and 3, at Hamilton Farm.
Wie has come very close, true. In the first three majors of the year - the Kraft Nabisco, the McDonald's LPGA Championship and the U.S. Women's Open - she was in the hunt until the end, finishing in ties for third, fifth and third. Still, aside from Wie's endorsement deals, the biggest victory of her young career remains the amateur trophy she won three years ago as a 13-year-old in the Women's Amateur Public Links Championship.
Even so, don't expect LPGA players to talk trash about Wie. Why? It's a fool's errand. Ask most players about Wie and the typical response is a little verbal tap-dancing.
In the McDonald's Championship, it fell to Annika Sorenstam to field a few questions about Wie. Any negative vibes toward Wie, considering that her publicity has outstripped her results so far?
Sorenstam, ever the diplomat, said, "Well, I think that she's making the headlines because of her potential."
For a reception similar to what Wie is getting, look no further back than the pro debut of Tiger Woods 10 years ago. He, too, arrived with a big reputation and a big $40 million endorsement deal with Nike.
Very quickly, Woods did a couple of things to silence his critics: First, he won early and often, bagging the Las Vegas Invitational five weeks after he turned pro and the Disney Classic two weeks later. The following spring, Woods won the Masters by 12 shots and began his rise to the top.
He also did something that engendered respect and loyalty from his peers: He joined the PGA Tour. It's hard not to like a guy whose presence has helped elevate total purses from $71 million in 1996 to $257 million this year.
Wie, on the other hand, has not joined the LPGA Tour (or any other tour), even though the 18-and-older clause would be waived for her - just as it was for Pressel at 17.
For Wie, the downside of joining the LPGA is that she would have to play a minimum of the tour's events each year, and she would need special permission every time she wanted to tour-hop to the PGA or overseas for $1 million in appearance-fee money.
In the U.S. Women's Open, Wie virtually flaunted what she called her "freelance" status, along with her loftier goals.
"I'm playing a lot of tours," she said. "I'm playing the Japanese Tour, Asian Tour, the PGA, the LPGA - it's awesome. But, obviously, I would like to play in the PGA later on, be a member there."
Comments like that leave some LPGA players wondering whether that's just a 16-year-old talking, or whether Wie cares only about herself, not the LPGA Tour or women's golf.
"Right now, Michelle doesn't need the Tour," said Dottie Pepper, the outspoken LPGA veteran turned Golf Channel analyst. "She enjoys all the perks without any of the obligations."
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Interesting article--My question would be is how strong is tour that ranks player #2 in world with 3 years experience-30 events and no wins.
On Golf | Young Wie is still a noveltyBy Joe Logan
Inquirer Columnist
GLADSTONE, N.J. - As Michelle Wie marched up the fairway Friday in her second-round victory during the Women's World Match Play Championship, she had the confident bearing of a young woman on top of the world.
She should be confident. Since the golf phenom turned 16 and became a professional on the same day last October, she has been both rich and famous.
Nike and Sony pay the statuesque teen an estimated $10 million a year in endorsement money. Everywhere she plays, Wie attracts fans and reporters, be it the John Deere Classic on the PGA Tour, the U.S. Open qualifier, or this weekend's Match Play.
With all the publicity Wie brings, especially to the respect- and attention-starved LPGA, does there seem to be a sense of indifference, if not resentment, toward her?
"She does get a lot of attention; that's the truth," Morgan Pressel, 18, a promising LPGA rookie who is both a contemporary and rival of Wie's, said Friday. "She's a great player, and the public is fascinated with the fact that she hits the ball a long way and that she's very tall and wants to play with men."
Then, with just the slightest hint of jealousy, Pressel added, "She's got it made."
Egos being what they are, jealousy is understandable. After all, just as Pressel and others on the LPGA Tour can't help but notice all the fuss over Wie, they also can't help but notice that she hasn't made a cut on the PGA Tour, her highly touted attempt to qualify for the U.S. Open a few weeks ago fell short, and she hasn't won on the LPGA Tour. In the Match Play quarterfinals yesterday, she was eliminated by Brittany Lincicome, 4 and 3, at Hamilton Farm.
Wie has come very close, true. In the first three majors of the year - the Kraft Nabisco, the McDonald's LPGA Championship and the U.S. Women's Open - she was in the hunt until the end, finishing in ties for third, fifth and third. Still, aside from Wie's endorsement deals, the biggest victory of her young career remains the amateur trophy she won three years ago as a 13-year-old in the Women's Amateur Public Links Championship.
Even so, don't expect LPGA players to talk trash about Wie. Why? It's a fool's errand. Ask most players about Wie and the typical response is a little verbal tap-dancing.
In the McDonald's Championship, it fell to Annika Sorenstam to field a few questions about Wie. Any negative vibes toward Wie, considering that her publicity has outstripped her results so far?
Sorenstam, ever the diplomat, said, "Well, I think that she's making the headlines because of her potential."
For a reception similar to what Wie is getting, look no further back than the pro debut of Tiger Woods 10 years ago. He, too, arrived with a big reputation and a big $40 million endorsement deal with Nike.
Very quickly, Woods did a couple of things to silence his critics: First, he won early and often, bagging the Las Vegas Invitational five weeks after he turned pro and the Disney Classic two weeks later. The following spring, Woods won the Masters by 12 shots and began his rise to the top.
He also did something that engendered respect and loyalty from his peers: He joined the PGA Tour. It's hard not to like a guy whose presence has helped elevate total purses from $71 million in 1996 to $257 million this year.
Wie, on the other hand, has not joined the LPGA Tour (or any other tour), even though the 18-and-older clause would be waived for her - just as it was for Pressel at 17.
For Wie, the downside of joining the LPGA is that she would have to play a minimum of the tour's events each year, and she would need special permission every time she wanted to tour-hop to the PGA or overseas for $1 million in appearance-fee money.
In the U.S. Women's Open, Wie virtually flaunted what she called her "freelance" status, along with her loftier goals.
"I'm playing a lot of tours," she said. "I'm playing the Japanese Tour, Asian Tour, the PGA, the LPGA - it's awesome. But, obviously, I would like to play in the PGA later on, be a member there."
Comments like that leave some LPGA players wondering whether that's just a 16-year-old talking, or whether Wie cares only about herself, not the LPGA Tour or women's golf.
"Right now, Michelle doesn't need the Tour," said Dottie Pepper, the outspoken LPGA veteran turned Golf Channel analyst. "She enjoys all the perks without any of the obligations."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Interesting article--My question would be is how strong is tour that ranks player #2 in world with 3 years experience-30 events and no wins.
