Leadbetter: No Men's Tournaments for Wie

David Leadbetter, instructor for Michelle Wie, says the phenom won't play on any men's tours this year and will join the LPGA Tour in 2008:

"She hasn't got any PGA tour events planned at the moment," coach David Leadbetter said ... "She's going to commit herself to the LPGA and play a number of events and next year, she'll probably take up membership."

Leadbetter said he'd been trying to get the Wies to take this position for some time:

According to Leadbetter, Wie's parents finally are starting to listen. "The thing I've tried to explain to them is that you have to work your way up the ladder," he continued.

"It's all well and good to play a couple of (men's) events as a novelty, now let's look at a long-term plan.

"She's young and young players tend to blow off (bad performances) but having said that, it's human nature, you don't want to be beaten up the whole time."

This is a good decision (although it will be interesting to see how Wie manages joining the LPGA Tour while also attending Stanford), one that I've argued for in the past. Playing only against the women, Wie should quickly become a frequent winner. And if she wants to try playing against the guys a few years down the road - when she's older and she and her game are more mature - great. For now, this seems the best decision for Wie's development.

See also:

• Michelle Wie pictures
• More on Michelle Wie