Finally: Michelle Wie Is a Winner on the LPGA Tour

During the Golf Channel's third-round coverage of the Lorena Ochoa Invitational on Saturday, announcer Charlie Rymer recalled the first time he saw Michelle Wie play golf. It was the 2004 Sony Open - the PGA Tour Sony Open - when Wie was 14 years old. She shot 72-68, finished even par and missed the cut by a stroke. A 14-year-old girl, playing from the tips, under PGA Tour conditions. "If you had told after that that it would be 2009 and Michelle Wie still wouldn't have a win on the LPGA Tour, I'd have said you were crazy," Rymer said.

At lot of people, myself included, would have said that. But after six years of tantalizing promise - Wie burst on the scene by playing in the final pairing of an LPGA major at age 13 in 2003; after six years of often spectacular golf and sometimes ugly incidents; after six years of multiple near-misses and one season (2007) of total failure; after all the hype and all the fame and after the Solheim Cup glory of earlier this year, Michelle Wie is a winner on the LPGA Tour (view photos from the win).

Finally. And it's about time.

Wie held off a stellar leaderboard on Sunday to win the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Guadalajara, Mexico, by two strokes. She carded a final-round 69 to finish at 13-under, outduelling runner-up Paula Creamer (70), at 11-under; and Morgan Pressel (67), Jiyai Shin (71) and Cristie Kerr (72), who finished tied for third at 10-under.

Wie started the final round tied for the lead with Kerr at 10-under. She got off to a hot start with birdies on the first and third holes, but Creamer and Kerr stayed near the lead most of the day. Creamer tied the lead with a chip-in eagle on the 10th; Kerr birdied the 10th and 11th to get to 12-under; and Wie bogied the 12th to fall back to 12-under, resulting in a three-way tie at that point.

But Kerr stumbled a couple times down the stretch, and Creamer fell back to 11-under with a bogey at No. 17.

Wie held steady, closing with five straight pars from Nos. 13 through 17, and then birdying the 18th.

It had to happen sooner or later, although most of us would have bet on the "sooner." But now it has happened - and it's the best news the LPGA could get. The LPGA desperately needs Wie to live up to her massive potential, and become a superstar based not just on her celebrity but on her results.

Wie will have at least two more opportunities to win in 2009: This week at the LPGA Tour Championship; and in December at the Dubai Ladies Masters, a Ladies European Tour event.

The first day of the rest of Michelle Wie's career just arrived. And I can't wait to see how the story unfolds from here.

See also:

• Photos: Michelle Wie's first win
• Michelle Wie timeline
• Michelle Wie pictures