Sixteen-year-old Michelle Wie plays in a sectional qualifier for the U.S. Open on Monday, and if she finishes in the Top 18, she'll become the first woman to play in the U.S. Open. Does she have a shot? Well, she did win her local qualifier - albeit against a much weaker (and smaller) field of players. Her instructor, David Leadbetter, certainly thinks she has a shot, telling the Associated Press:
It really is incredible. No way a few years ago would you have ever dreamed of a 16-year-old girl having the opportunity of hopefully getting into the men's U.S. Open. She is just special. That's all I can tell you.
We agree, Wie is special, and she absolutely has a realistic chance. But that doesn't mean she'll play her way into the U.S. Open on Monday. Let's take a closer look at what she's up against:
The sectional Wie plays in takes place at the Canoe Brook Country Club in Summit, N.J., a 36-hole facility. Wie plays the South Course in the morning (tee time: 8:35 a.m. EST) and the North Course (tee time: 2:20 p.m. EST) in the afternoon.
Last year, the winner of this section posted a score of 8-under 136. The golfer finishing 20th had a score of 1-over 145. One-over doesn't seem like too daunting a bar to try to clear, but Wie will have to clear it by a stroke or two because only the top 18 advance from this sectional.
Further, the field this year is much deeper than last year. In 2005, 84 golfers, including only around a dozen (source: Golfweek) with PGA Tour credentials, took part in this section. This year, the field is 153, and around 50 of the players have PGA Tour credentials.
Among the golfers against whom Wie will be competing are: Billy Andrade, Briny Baird, Alex Cejka, Robert Damron, Harrison Frazar, Mathias Gronberg, J.J. Henry, Bernhard Langer, J.L. Lewis, Len Mattiace, Mark O'Meara, Tom Pernice Jr., Brett Quigley and Kevin Stadler.
On the other hand, Wie has beaten some of these very players in her few PGA Tour appearances to date, and much of the field is made up of professionals from lower-tier tours or club pros. Very talented golfers to be sure, but not as daunting as the PGA Tour veterans reeled off above.
As for the courses, the South Course, by the numbers, seems to set up well for Wie. At under 6,700 yards, it's closer in length to an LPGA venue than to today's typical PGA Tour course. A strong start in the morning is likely a requirement for Wie.
In the afternoon, she'll move to the North Course, longer at 7,066 yards, and tougher with a 74.8 USGA course rating. However, in a 9-hole practice round that included some shaky moments on Monday, Wie reached both par-5s she played on the North Course in two. On the downhill, downwind, 572-yard No. 5, Wie (after taking a mulligan) hit a 327-yard drive, then hit the green from 245 yards out. She also hit the shorter No. 8, 501 yards but playing into the wind, in two.
What does it all mean? In any field of 153 players - and especially one that includes many golfers with PGA Tour experience - it would be difficult for any 16-year-old to finish in the top 18. Wie isn't just any 16-year-old, of course, so while the odds are probably not in her favor, she certainly has a realistic chance to play her way into the U.S. Open.
And I hope she does. Even if she doesn't do it this year, I'm convinced that she will someday be playing in the U.S. Open.
(Photo © Teddy George; used with permission)
Comments
Get your facts staight–Michelle is 16, she will be 17 on October 11th.
Wie should stay and play on the womens tour and leave the men’s tour for the men. She will never win a men’s pga event. She may make a cut here and there, but she will never beat or be better than the top pga players. Leadbetter doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
Mark, as you say, she’s 16 years old now, which is what I said she was in the post. If you see a factual error in the post, please be specific so it can be corrected. As far as I can see, her age is listed correctly already.
Ron is a chauvinist. The U.S. Open is not restricted to women, and Michelle Wie legitimately played her way into the sectional qualifier at Canoe Brook. What are you afraid of, Ron? What do you get out of demeaning a prodigiously talented sixteen-year-old girl who wants to test her mettle in the “major leagues.” Remember,the PGA Tour is the major leagues, not a tour reserved exclusively for men. It would, granted, take an extraordinarily gifted woman golfer to be successful on this most exalted of international PGA tours, but Michelle Wie has shown great promise of being precisely such a golfer. Remember, she is still a child, yet she has already fared better in PGA Tour events than Tiger Woods did before he made his first cut at age 19. This is not to say that Michelle will ever be a dominant golfer on the PGA Tour; I’m just urging you and all those who believe Michelle should “know her place” to open your eyes, your minds, and your spirits to a phenomenal, precocious, intelligent, level-headed young woman who rightly refuses to have her talent and her ambitions circumscribed by chauvinist perceptions of gender. Dial down the testosterone, Ron, or at least let it speak more rationally and compassionately.
I’d say good luck to Michelle Wie. Whether the men and women, young or old agree or not, Wie followed the rules properly by qualifying her way to the Sectional Qualifying, and she’s not taking a spot from anyone. For starter, kudos to Wie for daring to test herself on the same greens with the pros who are as old as her father or grandfather. Other than 15 years old Tadd Fukikawa, an amateur golfer, also from Hawaii, who will compete in the Hawaii’s Sectional Qualifying rounds.
Why does everyone become so worked up over an immensely talented young girl who is only trying to test herself against the best? After all, this is America.