Will Wie or won't Wie?
So will the 3rd time be a charm for Michelle Wie in trying to make the cut at the Sony Open? The odds are against her, but I think she might do it this year, as long as the winds don't blow as bad as they did last year. Then, I have to remind myself she's only 16, and when's the last time a 16-year-old (not to mention, a woman) has made a men's pro cut? She's come razor close three time before, though, and I think that experience will help her this week.
tee time: Chris Couch, Camilo Villegas, Michelle Wie 1:40 p.m. Thurs, 6:10 p.m. Friday
UPDATE: When I got home to watch ESPN coverage, the announcers were already saying kinds words about Michelle Wie to take some of the sting out of her 9-over 79. Bad round. The only thing I was right about was how tough it would be for Wie if the winds blew. They did, and so did her round. (TGC: Wie Blown Away at Sony) She's second to last.
To keep things in perspective, though, about how difficult the course was playing. Wonderboys Sean O'Hair and Ryan Moore shot 5-over 75s. Major winners Shaun Micheel shot +6, and Todd Hamilton, a +7. Corey Pavin, +8.
22 Comments:
No big surprise here but I am voting no she will not make the cut. Not sure why anyone would expect her to make it when her last event was an Asian tour event where she missed the cut.
Also not sure how you can say she came razor close on her 3 Sony attempts when last year she missed by 7. Now if you are saying she has come close on 3 open events then yes but in at least two of those she was in great position to close the deal and could not do it.
Not sure if wind would help or hurt. I have heard some say she is more use to the wind than others so it would help her, personally I think it will hurt her as the tougher the course plays the harder it will be for someone with less strength and open tournament experiance.
Didn't Ty Tyron make a cut @ 16?
Stuck Wie with two Nationwide Tour alums playing in the Sony their first time. The crowds are sure to intimidate her playing partners the first two days, and I can't imagine they will play well enough to spur Wie to her A-game. If she makes the cut, she definitely earned it.
On a side note, I was readin the new TV contracts and saw that the Golf Channel has become the exclusive cable channel for all three tours (PGA, Champions, Nationwide). While NBC will air 5 more events (mostly weekends...last year they had 5, now it is 10), and CBS expanded coverage from 16 to 19 (again, mostly weekends), that leaves 18 tournaments without coverage except on the Golf Channel (not including all the Thursday/Friday rounds that will only be seen on the Golf Channel). I see this as foreshadowing of what was already known...golf just doesn't make the money networks need to broadcast a tournament. For the Golf Channel, I think it is great. It gives them content that is exactly what their focus group wants...tournament broadcasts.
And as expected, the Players Championship has taken the normal 15th of the month spot left vacant between the Masters and the US Open (15th of May). That means for 5 straight months, their will be a major (or quasi-major) tournament on the 2nd week of the month.
I think Wie will.
If they announced a surprise steroid test for all entrants, Wie would not only make the cut, she'd probably make the top 10.
AD, right you are about Ty Tryon. He did make a cut at 16 (http://www.pgatour.com/story/3637174), the youngest to do so in more than 50 years.
Last year, the winds wreaked havoc for most of the golfers, including Michelle.
The 3 close cuts: Sony, Japan, and John Deere.
I can't belive there r 5 comments about a 16 yr old girl. Come On Guys, WHO CARES if she makes the cut...If she does GREAT, Good for her. How about talking about another show down bwtn the Aussie and VJ. or anything else for that madder.
I should have added.... I hope she DOES make the cut. I think if she does that will add additional interest to the golf year, both PGA but especially LPGA, give her some confidence to challenge Sorenstam which should push Sorenstam even harder, give us arm chair putters even more to type about and give me something to watch Saturday and Sunday evening... not like I was not planning on watching it anyway.
Have to agree with AndrewsDad. Wie making the cut would be a landmark story, thus bringing greater focus on the game of golf, and perhaps giving more leverage for the next TV contracts.
Some might argue that a 16 year old girl making the cut on the men's tour would hurt the Tour because it would downgrade the talent of the players. I hardly agree. It isn't like she won or ever will win on the men's tour. She merely made the cut, which means she played better than half the field, which as mulligan stated, she has already done on three other occasions in the past.
Did anyone see the RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship on ESPN? Can this be considered a Sport?
And eventually she will make a cut if she keeps playing a handfull of events each year and picks her spots. It just takes two solid rounds. No different than playing in your regular group where the best player does not always have the best score for a given round.
Ufortunately, it does not look like today is going to be one of her better rounds, currently +5 after 7, although its still early.
Well, Wie is +7 after her first nine holes, and is going to wrestle with John Cook (at +10) for the worst score of the day. Cook can't complain about her being there, he got in on a sponsor's exemption as well as a past champion.
Enough Michell Wie already...even if she makes the cut, she'll likely fade in the following rounds. Obviously, this week is out with a 42 on the front.
I'm not against her participation other than from the perspective of her own career...shouldn't she be focussed on winning on the LPGA tour and not merely making cuts on the mens tour? Yeah, there is a chance the the stars could line up just right and she could be competitive in a mens event, but that is highly unlikley. I believe that at 16, the dissappointment of continually "failing" on the men's tour, directly under the extreme scrutiny of the media and the fans will ultimately become a detriment to a very fragile psyche and can easily spill over into her game as a whole. No, I don't know her personally, but she's 16!!! Is this the right position to put a mere teenager in?
My money is one Morgan Pressel as the true future of women's golf. If Michelle Wie and her family aren't careful, she could easily become a footnote/sideshow and never perform to her potential.
The odds are clearly against her as of Thursday night. She did not have a good day.
I understand that some people feel that Michelle Wie has been "overexposed" and has, as of yet, underperformed in regards to the expectations many people have of her, including herself. I have to wonder if we are not forgetting that she is trying to do something that many people think is impossible, and many more think is highly unlikely. Becoming the first woman to make the cut in a PGA event in 60 years is very significant considering how the game has changed in that period of time. Golf courses have gotten longer and the men themselves have gotten better.
The #1 woman player in the world was unable to do what Wie has been trying to do, at age 16. Eventually, given the chance, I am inclined to believe that she could make a cut in a PGA event. Moreover, I REALLY HOPE she does. Golf would benefit greatly. Michelle Wie making the cut at a PGA event would be a major milestone, period.
Enough of Michelle Wie playing in PGA Tour events. Yes she is a great talent and will be a great player...on the LPGA Tour, not the PGA Tour. When is she going to get that through her head? It's time to stop the media hype as well about her some day competing with the men. Ok, yes she might finish ahead of a few Tour players when she doesn't make the cut, but does that really mean anything? She's never going to compete against the game's best players on a consistent basis, and there's no way that she would have a chance to win. Can anyone honestly say that they think that Michelle Wie could ever compete against Tiger, or Phil, or Ernie, or Retief, etc.? It's just not going to happen.
I am also startying to think that, unless someone starts giving her good advice, she's going to be one of the biggest flops in sports history. She needs to start learning how to win against the best women in the game instead of struggling to miss cuts in PGA Tour events. Look at her record, what has she done to justify the hype? She has nowhere near the accomplishments of Annika or any other great LPGA player. Nor does she have the credentials of Paula Creamer and Morgan Pressel. So Michelle's people need to get her playing against women where she can showcase her great talent. I think that she has the potential to be a great player, but she better start taking it seriously, or we are looking at the next [insert former athletic flop here]. It's almost to the point that Michelle is a circus performer, going out each time to all the hype and for all to see but never doing anything that merits the attention she receives. I think the media is part of the problem as well. There is so much hype about Michelle Wie, but honestly, is it deserved? Not at this point in her career. So Michelle, if no one else will tell you this, listen to me, stop with the PGA Tour and start accepting the fact that your future is with the LPGA.
she won't make the cut!! I just wish she would try to win a ladies event, HELLO !!!!!!
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