It's Time for Wie to Give Up the PGA Tour
It's time for Wie to - at least for now - give up playing PGA Tour events. For her own good.
I'm not suggesting she should never again attempt to play on the PGA Tour; or that she "doesn't belong" in "men's events"; and you'll never hear me agreeing with that silly canard that goes "if she can play on the PGA Tour then men should be allowed to play on the LPGA."
No, I think Michelle Wie will be capable of making PGA Tour cuts left and right when she's older and her game (and herself) is fully mature, and I look forward to watching it. And if she wants to keep accepting invitations to play in lesser-tier tours (Japan PGA, Korean PGA, Asian Tour, etc.), then more power to her.
But for now, I believe she should put a moratorium on PGA Tour appearances.
What it boils down to is this: This can't be good for her. Struggling to break 80, struggling to sink 4-foot putts, struggling to deal with a media crush that is increasingly (justifiably) focused on her shortcomings; struggling to deal with a lot of PGA Tour members who are increasingly openly skeptical and sometimes even hostile.
That's a lot for a kid to deal with, no matter how brave a face she puts on. It can't be helping her confidence, her disputations to the contrary notwithstanding.
I might not doubt Wie's continuing contention that these experiences are good for her if not for the downward spiral of her scores.
When Wie was 14, she fell just one stroke short of making the cut at the Sony Open, shooting 72-68. When she was 15, she shot 70-71 at the John Deere Classic. She ballooned to a 79 at the 2006 Sony Open, but followed it with another 68 (those 68s being the lowest scores ever shot by a woman on the PGA Tour).
But since then, it's been all downhill. As the expectations and pressure to make a cut have mounted, Wie's scores have tumbled.
She shot 77 at this year's John Deere Classic, then withdrew, citing heat exhaustion, in the second round (the heat didn't seem to affect any of the fat ol' geezers of the PGA Tour). At the European Masters on the European Tour, Wie shot 78-79 and finished dead last. And then this week, she shot 77-81 and again is dead last.
So her last six top-level PGA rounds are two 77s, a 78, a 79, an 81 and a WD. Not good - at least compared to standards she previously set for herself. On the PGA Tour (and European Tour) anyway, Wie has been moving in the wrong direction.
And we've seen frustration creep into her play on the LPGA, where late in a couple tournament this year Wie has been seen slapping her thigh or slamming a club into the ground. Maybe there's no connection between those showings of temper, but to me it seems all of a piece: what she goes through flailing around on the PGA Tour has to carry over into a greater need to win on the LPGA, and more frustration when that doesn't happen.
Let me stress again I'm not arguing that Wie has no right to play in PGA Tour events, or that she should quit playing against the men forever and all-time.
As long as the PGA Tour does not have any rules limiting the Tour to men only, and as long as the PGA Tour allows tournament sponsors to control a small number of spots in the field, and as long as any given sponsor wants to invite Wie to play, then she has every right to appear in PGA Tour events.
It's just that recently there hasn't been much in her results to indicate that there's any value in those appearances to the development of her game.
She's currently overmatched by the courses and competition, and underwelcomed by that competition; the publicity surrounding her appearances and performances is overwrought, while her results are underwhelming.
For her own good, I hope Michelle - and the people who control her career - decides to put a moratorium on PGA Tour events to concentrate on the LPGA Tour. Keep playing in lower level "men's events" if you want, Michelle, but don't come back to the PGA Tour until your game, your psyche, your confidence, have fully matured.
(Photo by Patrick Micheletti; used with permission)
Comments
Hello, I have admiration for her courage to try to do the task, but I think the time has come to FORGET about the PGA tour. Her comments about the PGA, last week, being not just for men etc, is an insult to the PROS, who WORK every week on the TOUR. As a low handicapper myself, my friends go out and TOY with the ladies tees….shoot under 70….but when we hit the black tees..its the real world. I see on TSN.ca the comments….only ONE out of 66 are for her and what she is doing….this is damaging a young talent. PLEASE stay in school, finish your youth, have some fun, because when its the tour every week, it’s your life, your JOB….and give up that PGA slot to a PRO, who is trying to make a living. You already have 20 million from Nike. Ask Tiger if he likes that. He had to EARN the endorsements, not just given, you have’nt even won on the LPGA? I also blame the Tournament Commitiees who let her play. Sad case. A Ryder Cup spot??? GET REAL!!!!!!
Here, here!!!
As someone famous once said:
‘Render unto Ceaser that which is Ceasar’s, render unto God that which is God’s’!
Talk about a mis-directed youth!
Does anybody else remember when men were men and women were women?
Wie should also be taking into account that she is playing against some of the weakest fields in mens golf. A very small percent of the top 150 men golfers are in the field in the tournments she plays in. Most of the top golfers were in the World match play championships this week.
I said it before and I will repeat it. Michelle needs to be a kid and enjoy her youth. The PGA is no place for her or any other unproven child athlete.
Michelle Wie is awesome. She brings more money to the tournaments than any other golfer outside the top 10. She is not playing on the “Men’s ” tour, she is playing in the Professional Golf Association events. She is a pro and therefore qualified. She did miss the cut big but so did two time major champ Daly and not to mention Janzen barely beat her. Make it simply. Of all the 86 golfers that don’t make a tournament cut I know that she is one that I root for. Didn’t Justin Rose miss 23 consecutive cuts? Get off her back and if you don’t enjoy her golf, enjoy the cash she brings to the table. MG
What are her parents after? She’s playing golf as her parents can’t. What can she say was memorable about her being in her teens? That she wasn’t as good as her family wanted her. Did she have fun in high school? Well, maybe when she is older and wants to look back on the early years and see nothing but frustration and hills never climbed. I would never want my children not to be able to have something to look back and say they had fun. So what if she want to play from the back tees. I can’t and get more pleasure playing within the tees I can. Go back to being a young girl. Age will come faster then you think.
It’s time for Michelle Wie to start playing, and perhaps winning, on the LPGA Tour. Her attempts so far have only amounted to another media circus.
WHERE DO I BEGIN!!!!First of all; you, Wie, and anyone else who thinks she should get to play in a PGA event are REDICULOUS!I dont get it. Why should she get to bypass quallifying? It is a disgrace and a slap in the face to the one thing that makes golf such a honorable sport; INTEGRITY. How dare anyone compare her to any player on the PGA Tour, they earned their spot in the field. I’ll give her credit for one thing and one thing only; WEAKENING THE FIELD!!!!!!
Michelle is a very talented player; unfortunately as she ages so will her body. She is still developing as both a women and a play. This may, in part, contribute to her less than stellar performance. I agree that the poor girl needs a break, from the PGA tour, the media and maybe even golf. As a former coach to up-and-coming Olympians I have seen a lot of great players turn bad simply by being pushed too hard. Hell, even Tiger has taken a few breaks from the game.
As far as her competing with men…The media keeps bashing her, but I do not see the media critiquing the MEN who finish behind her. If you them to the same standard then they should retire to amateur events.
Lastly,
What Michelle needs is two simple things: One a break as outlined about and two, she needs a caddy that is a friend first, a coach second, a caddy third and who has the power to stand up to her parents, agents and sponsors….I am still waiting for the call
Seems to be a dead topic with the wrist injury and all, however for 2007 is over MW and the PGA Tour will be making headlines and $$ together once again. How much $$ do you think she brings to the John Deere ?