It was a well-played final round for Wie, who didn't give in to the pressure despite playing with the so-called "final-round queen" Jiyai Shin.
And it was something of a surprise. Wie had three Top 10 finishes in her first seven events of 2010. But her play had been middling since late May. Her best finish over the next seven tournaments was tied for 17th, and over that stretch Wie finished inside the Top 20 just twice, outside the Top 30 four times, and missed one cut.
But she started off the week at the CWO with a great first-round 65 that included a hole-in-one, and Wie held or shared the lead wire-to-wire. Putting has been Wie's bugaboo, especially in the middle part of the season when it was rare for Wie to get through 18 holes with fewer than 30 putts. Her putting stats were only a smidge better in Canada, but she looked a lot better with the flatstick. And Wie made some key putts over the final nine holes in Winnipeg.
Any chance for Wie to build a little momentum? Alas, her life and the LPGA's schedule work against that. Wie plays again in two weeks at the P&G NW Arkansas Championship, but that is the tour's only event in September. Then Wie heads back to Stanford where she's given herself a brutal course load. Aside from the P&G and her title defense at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in November, we'll have to wait and see how much she plays the rest of the way.
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Comments
This is the real shame of the LPGA schedule for 2010. It doesn’t allow any momentum. Michelle will probably play 2 or 3 more events and then the tour championship. She’ll surely skip the Asian leg of the tour where she would be very popular. She’s a red shirt senior so we’ll see two more years of an abbreviated schedule for her, but kudos to her for getting her degree (and from what I hear she is an A student.) Nevertheless, great win this week. Luckily the LPGA was actually on live TV for a change. They probably had their highest ratings of the season on Sunday for LPGA golf. That’s Michelle’s drawing ability.