Michelle Wie: valiant comeback, 68
After turning on ESPN coverage and seeing Michelle Wie at +11 with shoulders drooping and appearing to be having no fun, I was just about to write a post agreeing with AndrewsDad. Yes, you heard me right: I was having second thoughts about Michelle's strategy of playing with the men. She looked like one unhappy camper, and you hate to see a teenager getting demoralized.
Then, Michelle made a comeback, rattling off 5 birdies sprinkled in with 2 bogeys. During this stretch, her body language changed. She was on the attack and trying to make the cut -- and she was actually smiling. At one stretch, she birdied 4 of 6 holes, including stuffing an approach shot to 2 feet 7 inches on the 14th -- the closest shot of any golfer on that hole all day. She consistently hit her driver 290 yards plus, including some huge bombs. Hank Haney (doing commentary) compared her powerful swing to Tiger's.
Michelle played really well on the back nine. One of her bogeys on the 13th was due to a 3-putt from 59 feet (when she was clearly trying to drain another birdie). Another bogey on the 15th was caused by a bad lie in a divot. She closed with a birdie on the last hole for a 2-under 68 (played for some time in the rain). 7 birdies, 5 bogeys, and some incredible shots. She didn't make the cut (+3), but today she proved she can compete with the men. And anyone who missed the ESPN coverage of Michelle's performance today is really in no position to naysay her anymore.
Michelle Wie beat for 2 day total: 18 PGA golfers, including Lucas Glover, Harrison Frazar, Bart Bryant, Pat Perez, Shaun Micheel, Todd Hamilton.
Michelle Wie tied: Craig Stadler, Sean O'Hair, Jason Gore, Frank Lickliter, Jason Schultz, DA Points, Stephen Leaney, Chris Couch, Kris Cox.
Michelle Wie beat with today's round of 68: Vijay Singh, David Toms, Mike Weir, Adam Scott, Jerry Kelly, KJ Choi, Jeff Gove, Rory Sabbatini, Ryan Moore, Shaun Micheel, Peter Jacobsen, Kenny Perry, Sean O'Hair, Jason Gore, Lucas Glover, Todd Hamilton, Justin Rose, Peter Lonard, Bubba Watson, Fred Funk, Vaughn Taylor, Paul Goydos, Tom Byrum, Mark Calcavecchia, Arjun Atwal, Robert Gamez, Will MacKenzie, Vance Veazey, Richard Johnson, Billy Mayfair, Charles Warren, Shane Bertsch, Jeff Sluman, Rich Beem, Stewart Cink, Nathan Green, Michael Allen, James Driscoll, Aaron Baddeley, Matthew Goggin, Carlos Franco, Troy Matteson, Aaron Oberholser, Paul Azinger, Jeff Maggert, Brad Faxon, Olin Browne, Brent Geiberger, Jon Mills, Jesper Parnevik, Jason Bohn, Tommy Armour III, Patrick Sheehan, Tom Lehman, Roger Tambellini, Bill Haas, Hidemichi Tanaka, Charles Howell, John Riegger, Joe Durant, Ryuji Imada, Thomas Levet, Shigeki Maryuma, Kaname Yokoo, Jeff Overton, Joe Ogilvie, Craig Barlow, Bo Van Pelt, Parker McLachlin, Henrik Bjornstad, Bubba Dickerson, Tom Pernice, Steve Lowery, DJ Trahan, David Ishii, Greg Chalmers, Brett Quigley, Heath Slocum, John Huston, Jeff Brehaut, Kevin Hayashi, David McKenzie, Jeremy Tucker, Eric Axley, Charlie Wi, Yusaku Miyazato, Tim Petrovic, Tag Ridings, Daisuke Maruryama, Steve Schneiter, Dean Wilson, Craig Perks, Shiv Kapur, Charley Hoffman, Nicholas Thompson, Kiyoshi Miyazato, Joey Snider, Nick Watney, Alex Aragon, Jason Schultz, DA Points, Frank Lickliter, Craig Stadler, Stephen Leaney, Chris Couch, Kris Cox, Robert Garrigus, John Engler, Harrison Frazar, Thaworn Wiratchant, Pat Perez, Bart Bryant, Beau Yokomoto, Ryan Palmer, Tadahiro Takayama, Jimmy Walker, John Cook, Brandan Kap, Wes Short, and Brad Elder.
Out of 153 male pro golfers, how many beat Michelle's 68 today?: only 11.
5 Comments:
Yeah, her round was impressive. Most impressive of all was that she didn't throw in the towel after ballooning to +11 over. I haven't watched her play much before, and I thought she would shoot even worse, something like +15 after the end of the day. But, all of sudden, she started flag hunting. It was pretty effing amazing.
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The fact that Michelle tied two players (the Walrus and Gore) that each weigh approximately 3x as much as her, but that she can shoot 68 at Waialae is key. I could not even do that on Super Nintendo.
Random Thought: Michelle has fashion...for a 10th grader. How about that pink belt.
Another Thought: Who's parents worked harder to help their kid succeed at their accomplishment...A kid who wins the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee, or Michelle Wie. I think Wie. C.C.C.C.Crack that whip. He He.
Also when is Michelle's dad going to let her play in an event sponsored by an American company.
In jest.
Jarrod
Is John Deere not an American company?
Will admit, I wrote this piece of Michelle prior to reading your post.
On one hand I agree with you that shooting that 68 was damn impressive especially beating out all those other tour players.
She fought back, and that shows all of us what she is made of.
On the other hand, I think it's time to stop giving her these sponsor exemptions, regardless of the money or crowds she pulls in for corporations like Sony. She has yet to win on the mens tour and has yet to win on the women's tour.
As I said on my own site, focus on putting some trophies up on her mantel via LPGA events, build some more confidence, and than maybe a couple years down the road see what she has.
She has shown us that she can compete with the men for a small fraction of time, not for an entire tournament. That is the kicker. Can she win a men's tournament or can she lead 1 or 2 rounds? That is the million dollar question but takes time and patience to answer.
She is an amazing talent and assuming she doesn't burn out, she will be incredible and go on to break many records on the LPGA Tour and possibly even some stuff on the mens tour one day, but I think it's time to give the mens tour a rest and focus on the LPGA.
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