The Golf Blog: Michelle Wie finishes dead last

Friday, September 08, 2006

Michelle Wie finishes dead last

This ain't even a story anymore, so all I'll say is this: scoreboard. (Told you so.)

30 Comments:

At 11:04 AM, Anonymous said...: Wie's latest excuse after her round today:

"I was breaking in some new shoes and they affected my swing"

Unbelievable!
At 11:45 AM, Megan Heckeroth said...: it is unfortunate that this talented 16-yr old fell in the naive marketing hands of her dad and the seemingly idiotic advice of her agent. Maybe a 16-yr old phenom burnout is new in golf, but if we look at women's tennis there are plenty of cases.
If these guys continue pushing this girl in this direction, we might not hear of her in 2-3 years, because of burnout and, just plain rebellion on her part when she turns 18.
If they left her alone, play 8-10 tourneys per yr on the 3 women's tours LPGA/LET/ALPGA, she might even mature to want to play the men in 5 years.
In the meantime, let hope these "idiotic adults" get their senses.
At 12:23 PM, YoungTomMorris said...: Thank you Megan for being the voice of reason. I've been saying this until I'm blue in the face, but you are exactly right about this.
At 1:12 PM, padaigpc said...: Amen to that.

She had a nice diss to the women's tour. "I can't get better playing the women"

Can she please just go away.
or
actually she can go "Wie, Wie, Wie all the way home.
At 1:30 PM, Anonymous said...: That comment about "can't get better playing the women" is the height of arrogance and naivete. Can you imagine Tiger saying the same about his Tour brethren?

She's going to wear out her welcome with the public at large very soon with her idiotic comments and behavior.
At 1:36 PM, Wie_Wacker said...: "You have got to learn how to play men's tournaments by playing men's tournaments. If I just play women's events I will just get better at women's events."

Profound!
At 2:18 PM, Jim Green said...: I agree with Megan. It is indeed amazing how the "idiotic adults" are going to screw this talented girl up.
While I have never been sold on Michelle, I do recognize she has some talent. However, she needs to win one first and quit whining about shoes, caddies, etc. I am just not sure she is as talented as her money grubbing "idiotic adults" think. However, the adults could possibly teach a course in marketing.....what a scam!!!
At 2:59 PM, Anonymous said...: Her constant struggles and excuses make me think of the old golf line/joke:

"If only once I'd just play my usual game!..."
At 3:06 PM, Waxman said...: Good on you Megan! More PGA, LPGA and media personalities need to be saying the same thing.
The big story today in LPGA is 'Annika is back'. Seven under today. Whenever she is in a slump she should go to Sweden more often for a brake.
At 3:31 PM, Jono said...: i kno she has come up with strange excuses but shes only 16 of course she will make mistakes, didnt you when you were 16, and i hope what megan says about not seeing her in 2-3 yrs wont become true because she is a big boost to womens golf along with storenstam and ochao
At 3:32 PM, Anonymous said...: Why is it that everyone but her parents can see that this is all about MONEY and not about what is good for Michelle Wie? I thought there were laws against this type of exploitation. I know every parent thinks their kids are the better then so and so's but come on. On the other hand I want to thank her for the "new shoes" excuse. I can't wait to use it this weekend after I hook one into the woods!
At 3:38 PM, Jono said...: God give the poor girl a break, everyone is out to get her
At 3:48 PM, AndrewsDad said...: Does anyone have a link to the "new shoes" quote? I am having a hard time believing she actually said that.

On the other hand, I was kind of amazed she said:
I think it was very difficult after some time off, go back home, start school again for a week and come back and play a tournament, I was very stressed at school, I had to bring all my work here with me, while I'm trying to get my game back in shape.

Did she not know when she was going to start school? Did she not know Switzerland was not near Hawaii? Did she not know when the tournament started so she could "get her game in shape"? I have no idea why she would have accepted the invite to this event at this time of the year. Made no sense to me. Sounds like another case of bad advice.

I do not think everyone is out to get the "poor girl", we are just starting to tire of hearing excuses from a "pro golfer".
At 4:35 PM, Anonymous said...: Her welcome IS worn out!

Definitions:

Michelle - victim (also spoiled brat)
BJ - Pimp
BO - Madam
Agent - Pusher
Press - Willing participants
Sponsors - Doing what sponsors do.
People who paid her $10 M - Sweating

Were the shoes Nike?
At 5:28 PM, Anonymous said...: nit nit nit nit nit

never have I seen so much effort picking apart the words of a 16 year old. Give her a break. Most golfers don't have to give interviews after a bad round, and when they do they say pretty much the same types of things... "gee, I played solid, but the putts just didn't fall..."
At 5:47 PM, Anonymous said...: Imgonnapickup: You should wipe that drool off your face. This has obviously made you salivate with glee.

I agree that this does seem to be turning into a case of Michelle either pushing herself or being pushed far too much, too fast. Her finishes at men's tournaments have been a wildly mixed bag.

There is plenty of room for legitimate criticism, but it's interesting watching people distort her quotes to tear her down further. I thought she was pretty honest about how poorly she played.

She also never said that she can't get better playing women. She said playing women's events teaches her how to get better at playing women's events, and that same logic applies in regards to playing men's events. Not a diss.

Her logic may seem odd but she has a point. When Annika went to compete with the men, she crumbled under the pressure and never went back. She then dominated the LPGA tour in amazing fashion. So, given that Annika has only added many LPGA wins since then, if she were to play at a PGA tournament again, would you expect her to make the cut? Has she learned anything about competing with the men by dominating the women's tour?

I guess we'll never know, because Annika's decision has been to never try again. And I honestly think that's kind of sad, because I think if she had kept trying to compete with the men every once in a while, she would've eventually found success and exceeded expectations. A great deal of people will never know how great Annika truly is. My dad, who doesn't follow golf at all, knows Annika as the woman who broke down and cried after playing with the men.
At 9:38 PM, mulligan said...: This is a real low point for Wie, no doubt about it. A number of the commenters have raised legitimate points.

I hope to offer more of my views soon. Wie's got the John Deere to prepare for. David Leadbetter should be on the first jet to Pennsylvania to get Michelle in some playing shape. Michelle needs to regroup. So do I.
At 9:39 PM, mulligan said...: Oops. I meant the 84 Lumber Classic.
At 11:01 PM, calygolfing said...: I love the comment from above:

"Her logic may seem odd but she has a point. When Annika went to compete with the men, she crumbled under the pressure and never went back."

This is ridiculous tripe! Annika missed the cut by two shots, and she played wonderfully! Annika said she has no desire to try and make cuts....she wants to WIN!

Please, NEVER compare Annika to Michelle Wie.....they have NOTHING IN COMMON!
At 9:56 AM, Anonymous said...: I agree that Annika's effort wasn't anything to be ashamed of, but let's not revise history. Annika herself said she was affected by the intense buildup and pressure. She had a shot at making the cut after the first round, but she buckled under the pressure in the second.

It was indeed a lot of pressure, so the point is just that Annika was capable of playing better but couldn't do it that time. If she had gone back to try again, I'm sure she would have improved upon her previous showing. And I think making a cut on the men's tour would be something great to add to her resume, even if it's not a win.

I would've liked to see Annika try a few more times to make the cut.

And I don't want to see Michelle give that up entirely, but not to the extent that she has this year. It's obviously too much for her at this point in time.
At 10:06 AM, Megan Heckeroth said...: A few months ago, I read an analysis of how Tiger's father (Earl) used to set a reachable goal for young Tiger, have him make it, and then raise the bar up to the next goal. That progressively built up Tiger's mental strength and confidence. Both of which are key ingredients for succesful longevity in the game of golf. And payoff even more when you reach your 20s and 30s (as we're seeing with Tiger's recent streak).

In the case of BJ (Michelle's father), he is using a "physical" sport mental theory - which is set the bar high enough and have the athlete keep jumping until he/she reaches it. That is fine for developping physical prowess (basketball, pitching etc) but in the game of golf, it completely destroys the player because it does not help build his/her mental strength. If anything, it destroys it with each try (i.e. a missed cut in Michelle's case).

Though Earl did not have the "professor" credentials of BJ, he also did not have the professorial arrogance of the "I know better". Earl having been a green beret facing attack and fire was much more humble at accepting others' input and studied it with a great deal of depth - not the case for BJ.
And in the end both golf prodigies (Tiger and Michelle) are only the result of their fathers' diligence at studying the mental game and accepting input from others.
BJ will eventually drive his daughter to rebellion or burnout. (See Sean O'Hair on the men's side)
At 10:39 AM, AndrewsDad said...: This whole Annika buckled comment is total crap. She missed the cut by 2 and said afterwards that was the best she had ever played. Not sure how you could "buckle under the pressure" and still play your best ever. Annika knows she has no chance of winning on the PGA tour so why would she want to waste time with an occasional made cut when she can regularly take home a trophy on the LPGA tour?

The fundamental difference between Annika (and Tiger) and Michelle Wie is the end goal. When you hear interviews with Annika or Tiger, they talk about winning. Nothing else matters. When Annika missed a cut earlier this year she was asked about her made cut streak and she replied she was not aware of it as all she cares about are wins. When Tiger was asked about finishing second in a tournament he says finishing second is the worst. 2nd place is just the first loser. You do not hear those kinds of comments from Wie. Maybe it is because she does not remember what it is like to have won since its been close to 40 months since she has posted a win. As I have said over and over, winning is not the goal of the Wie camp, publicity and endoresment dollars are. If winning was the goal then why would she have played the 36 hole US Open qualifier, a tourney she most likely would not qualify for, a tourney she almost certainly would not make the cut and had zero chance of winning, the Monday of an LPGA major, a tourney she had a real shot at winning.
At 4:04 PM, calygolfing said...: This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
At 5:28 PM, Anonymous said...: It's very easy to criticize Wie when she finishes in last place.

She did come close on two or three occasions before, though, so I'm not sure it's fair to attack her parents so brutally. It's not as though Michelle Wie finished in last place every time she teed it up against the men.
At 5:40 PM, Anonymous said...: LOOK IT UP, Annika missed the cut by FOUR strokes at Colonial. You guys are REALLY revising history. She placed 96th out of the 111 players who played the full two rounds. After the first round she still had a shot at making the cut (round of 1-over), and I remember that the media intensity and excitement multiplied.

But she blew it in the second round with a round of 4-over. Maybe you don't call that buckling under the pressure, but I think that's what happened. If that was the best that she could have played, how come her second round was worse by 3 strokes than her first? She didn't collapse but the pressure definitely got to her.

But it's only BECAUSE I think Annika is so great that I think she could've done better if the media intensity had been less and she didn't have so much build up on that one event. But that time, YES, I think the pressure got to her. That's not a slam on her, it just shows she's human.
At 7:16 PM, Anonymous said...: The best thing that Wie has become very professional at is making excuses. Each time she has played there is always a different excuse the "new shoes" is a first what is next? The concern is that the sponsers and the parents are rapidly turning this big hitter into a teenage burnout all in the name of cash at the expense of her.
At 7:06 AM, Anonymous said...: It's a shame Michelle is being exploited so much. She is soooo young and talented but the pressure to succeed will only grow worse as she continues to miss cuts on the men's tour. There's no question she can do it, but the more she misses, the harder it will become. She's got a great golf swing and if she just makes one, she'll be on her way.
At 6:10 PM, Anonymous said...: Michelle Wie + "Girls Rules" = PGA ?

I would think women would be ashamed. Not by her performance, but by the way she has forced herself into and onto the PGA.

No one is forcing her, let us be clear.

It is a classic example of having to break the rules to allow a woman to participate, because no one had the guts in this pitifully PC Nation to remind her it a MENS tournament.

It would be different if a long standing LPGA winner wanted to test the PGA "waters", but with Wie this is not the case.
At 6:31 PM, Anonymous said...: Perhaps a couple men should apply at a LPGA tourney.

As soon as they win some money this will all end.

Same same, Right ?
At 12:02 AM, Anonymous said...: Michelle Wie is a great talent for her age, but regardless of sex or age, I wish the press would focus on those that deserve it, rather than those that have come in last place.