It is easy not to feel sorry for Michelle Wie. She is only 17, a multi-millionaire, has good looks and she is a golfing prodigy. Not bad considering she has yet to win a professional tournament of note so far.
Then again, she is only 17. All she wants to do is play golf. But given the stage the game is played on, few people with her talent are going to escape criticism for even the slightest hiccup. And so it was after Wie withdrew from the “LPGA Tour’s Ginn Tribute by Annika Sorenstam” after 16 holes.
Wie claimed the wrist injury that kept her out for four months act up again and contributed to her 14 over par.
Some people just don’t buy that, Dan O’Neill, sports columnist for the St Louis Post-Dispatch being one of them. As he writes in his column:
“We’re not talking Lindsay Lohan yet, but the 17-year-old has become more of a curiosity than a legitimate player. And in this latest chapter, she drags the sport down with her. Perhaps Wie’s wrist was bothering her. But when she spoke to the press afterward, she talked confidently about playing in next week’s McDonald’s LPGA Championship. After missing four months, and withdrawing after 16 holes because of the same injury, are you optimistic about playing next week? Or are you making a mockery of the competition?â€
Indeed, one of her playing partners, Alena Sharp, said Wie hardly ever touched her wrist and believed she decided to quit simply because she was having a bad day. There was also talk her father, B.J. Wie was giving her advice on the course, which upset Sharp and the other golfer in the three-ball, Janice Moodie.
Whatever happens, Wie knows she has to bounce back. And with her talent, there is no doubt she can. The only question is when?
I always felt that when Wie attempted to take off on the PGA games she did a very stupid and dumb move. She did it against her coach’s advice and some of her friends advise. Same old story is truer then ever. Money is the love of everything. Now people are attempting to cover of her. She entered the game with her eye open and no matter what the out come was she took money out of the hands of people who were playing the game for support of themselves or family. I watched the the LPGA this past week. At one time her name was mentioned more time then the person who was the leader or even at times the person who was playing the shot. Sad, but other players of the LPGA hard hard things to say about her but media couldn’t or wouldn’t mention it as they well did this past week. She wants to play , she should have to pay for when the performance is poor. It is getting so that it appears that true news is hard to find .
Just to ‘nail’ this Wie thing.
She is being VERY badly advised by both her Father and her Agent. As Nazvi states, she is still a kid and they are letting her make kid statements. They should fend off the interviewers on her behalf, until such time as she realises just what to say and what not to say, on air. Also the LPGA should be assisting her to deal with all this silly hype which surrounds her.
3 years ago she was driving it very long and also very straight. Now she has trouble finding the short grass, as there is much to large a group of reporters and cameramen following her every move, so putting a great lot of pressure on her shoulders. When she misses a shot, there is a huge sad murmour all around her…..If things carry on like this Miss Wie will be having a ‘Nervous Breadvan’ and who will take the blame for it?
Andy, the extent of what I know about Wie is from reading scoreboards, and — in the women’s events — she used to shoot good scores and contend. She is struggling now and has bad scores more often than not.
Nazvi, you are correct. You did not praise her play, but feel sorry for her? That’s questionable.
Ted, you nailed it on all points.
Hit ’em straight, men.
George
Michele showed herself up during her latest interview, when she was trying to explain why she was suddenly OK to practise, after withdrawing from Annika’s comp. She could not stop talking and said far, far too much without answering the questions fully.
I have no doubt in my mind that she withdrew because she was playing so badly that she was about to fall foul of a rule that would have led to her exclusion for 12 months.
The tournament organisers and sponsors are really to blame for all this pressure upon her. They have invited her to play with the men when she should have been playing with girls. We all can see that she is very good, but the pressure is now beginning to tell and she should be left alone to get on with her normal life and no further sponsors exemptions should be given to her, at least until she has won a comp amongst the top women golfers.
She is certainly NOT playing as well as she did before she turned PRO and, after Nike made her that absolutely ridiculous $10 million offer. She must believe that she is better than she really is. What a dilemma she is in!
Actually, I don’t think my posting was overflowing with platitudes for Wie. I was mostly highlighting the negative comments made about her. However, I do feel sorry for her. She is only 17 and, being in the public eye, people expect her to be perfect. She may achieve golfing perfection, who knows. But as a human, no one is perfect and I feel sorry for any 17 year old who is subjected to personal jibes for whatever mistakes they make at their place of work. Sure, she chose her career path and you cannot expect to hide behind a computer terminal as a pro golfer. She is still a kid and she will make kid comments, kid decisions and behave like a kid. Thanks. Nazvi.
Hi George,
Actually the latest post was posted by Nazvi Careem and on 24th May George Beardsley wrote a post titled Should Michelle Wie Play With the Guys?. To date this one post has received 62 comments with wide ranging opinions.
Are you saying you think she was better when she was 13 and 14 years of age , which goes back to her amateur career?
It seems from looking at here career stats at Wikipedia that she has yet to win a tournament in over 30 starts on the LPGA dating back to 2003.
I know when she comes over to St Andrews for the Women’s British Open in early August all eyes will be her, despite the fact the field will be full of many proven winners!
Cheers
Andy
Who is writing this tripe about how good Wie is? This is the second piece in a week. She’s not nearly so good a player as she was three or four years ago, and she’s not close to being a good representative of the game.
George Singleton
Fort Worth, Texas