Why Michelle Wie is ahead of schedule
So Michelle Wie finished second--again. But look whom she finished second to, the hottest female golfer this year, Karrie Webb, who has already won three tournaments, including another major. To get chased down by Karrie Webb, particularly this year, is nothing to be ashamed about. It's just another lesson for the 16 year old phenom playing again in the last group on Sunday of a big tournament.
The way I see it, Michelle Wie is well ahead of schedule. Why? Because she's 16 years old, and when compared to the closest thing to a peer she has on the LPGA tour, she's head and shoulders above the competition.
Just compare Michelle to the other teen phenom on tour, 18 year old Morgan Pressel. Morgan has played in 14 tourneys this year, with only 4 Top 10 finishes and no finish better than tied for 5th. Her worst finishes include 2 missed cuts, and tied for 60th, 69th, and most recently, a tied for 54th at the Jamie Farr.
Michelle Wie hasn't missed a single cut on the LPGA tour, and because she's under 18, the LPGA does not allow her to play the full number of events. At the majors, she tied for 3rd (finishing one back) at the Kraft Nabisco (beating Pressel by 9 strokes), 5th at the LPGA Championship (beating Pressel by 15 shots), and 3rd (finishing two back) at the Women's U.S. Open (beating Pressel by 14 shots). She finished 1 back and tied for 3rd at her first LPGA event at the Fields Open (beating Pressel by 5 strokes).
Maybe it's unfair to compare Wie to Pressel. But Pressel was the No. 1 women's amateur in 2005, having won the U.S. Women's Amateur and the AJGA Player of the Year (and a total of 11 AJGA events over her junior career). Pressel has "learned how to win" as a junior, but all of the young guns are finding it much more difficult on the LPGA tour.
Morgan's time will come. But so will Michelle's. And when Michelle's does, she could dominate the LPGA tour like no other has before.
11 Comments:
I couldn't agree more. I think Michelle's critics (and to a lesser extent Danica Patrick) have missed the whole point on them. How many rookies do we expect to win right out of the gate? Almost none. It seems very unfair to bash Wie for not beating the east female golfers in the world when she is 16. We didn't even expect that out of Tiger..
*****
How many rookies do we expect to win right out of the gate? Almost none.
*****
**Ahem** Paula Creamer. I'm pretty sure Creamer was a rookie when she won four times in her rookie year, 18 and 19 years of age.
The word from the Wie acolytes is that Wie is the greatest talent ever seen in golf, maybe the greatest prodigy in sports history. Certainly when it comes to raw talent, Wie can run laps around every LPGA-er, including four-time winner Creamer.
So is one teeny wieney win from Wie too much to expect?
-George
Michelle has outplayed Paula Creamer almost at every tournament this year.
Can you imagine how many Wie haters will crawl out of the wood work if she, I hate to even imagine, finishes outside of the top ten once?
She should get a pass just because of the abbreviated schedule she has to play because SHE IS A HIGH SCHOOL KID.
I doubt any pro could stay in tournament shape skipping as many events as she does.
Of course, she would be so much better off if she creamed a bunch of girl juniors and "learned how to win". That is so much better experience than going head to head Karrie Webb and Laura Davies Sunday afternoon at the Evian Masters.
It seems very unfair to bash Wie for not beating the east female golfers in the world when she is 16
Would you expect the highest paid professional golfer, the 2nd ranked player in the world, the one with more talent than any female golfer ever, to beat the best female golfers in the world?
Now, now, "andrewsdad"... Your Wie bashing days are becoming more and more irelevant with each Wie performance. Whatever happened to your girl, Morgan "Sob, Sob, Sniff, Sniff" Pressel? Sucking wind.
**Ahem** Paula Creamer. I'm pretty sure Creamer was a rookie when she won four times in her rookie year, 18 and 19 years of age.***
from Paula Creamers bio
Four days before graduating from high school, made a 17-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to win the Sybase
Classic presented by Lincoln Mercury and become the youngest winner of a multi-round event in history at
the age of 18 years, 9 months and 17 days.
• Two months later, won the Evian Masters by eight shots to become the youngest (18 years, 11 months and
18 days) and fastest (4 months, 27 days) player to reach $1 million in career earnings.
So two wins by the age of eighteen is the criteria for Michelle? I doubt that will be a problem for Wie. As far as you setting up the straw man of Wie acolytes calling her the greatest prodigy in Sports history is simply absurd. She is not nor has anyone her contended that she is, the greatest sports prodigy ever. But as far as comparisons to Paula Creamer go, Michelle has accomplished much more at 16 than Paula had. So what was your argument again?
And just because you keep saying four wins doesn't make it so. Especially if 2 of them are on the Japanese womens tour.
Would you be interested to know that Babe Didrikson played in her first golf tournament only one year after taking-up the game? Would you be interested to know that she won the 2nd event that she ever played in? Would you be interested to know that Babe won 17 tournaments in a row includding the US Amateur and the British (which had never been won by an American and had been played since 1893)?
Would you be interested to know that Michelle Wie has 30 LPGA starts with ZERO victories.
Do you guys know how Babe got her nickname? She hit 5 homeruns in a single game? Did you guys see Michelle Wie "throw" out the first pitch at the Balitmore Orioles game earlier this year? Let's just say that the term "rag" came to mind.
Yet, Mulligan believes this infidel deserves to be mentioned as possibly the greatest LPGA golfer of all time. Dude, read a book, buy a vowel, go test-drive new irons at Golfsmith, just don't hurt yourself trying to think thoughts any deeper than, "She's so cute!"
Infidel?
Yet, Mulligan believes this infidel deserves to be mentioned as possibly the greatest LPGA golfer of all time. Dude, read a book, buy a vowel, go test-drive new irons at Golfsmith, just don't hurt yourself trying to think thoughts any deeper than, "She's so cute!"
Now that comment is absurd. While I agree Mulligan seems to get ahead of himself on Michelle Wie, although I also believe one day she COULD and SHOULD dominate the LPGA like nobody else ever has, I am just not convinced that is the ultimate goal or the way she is going about it lends itself to that conclusion.
If anything else, it's pretty interesting how many comments the topic of Michelle Wie has sparked here and in the comments from the past few posts. What do you think it is that makes everyone so impassioned either way? Is it because she brings up so many divisive and controversial issues? Gender, race, age, money/sponsorship? Something about her clearly presses peoples' buttons. Or is it just because men's golf just isn't as interesting anymore...
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