Nickname: Sometimes called "The Big Wiesy." It's a play on Ernie Els' nickname, "Big Easy," because of how her swing resembled Els' early on; and also because she is so tall at around 6-foot-3.
Michelle Wie Pictures
Tour Victories:
0
Major Championships:
0
Quote, Unquote:
• Michelle Wie: "I don't think I would say I don't belong here; I do belong. I belong on the LPGA; I belong on the PGA (Tour). I think I belong in both."
• Fred Couples Wie at age 13: "When you see her hit a golf ball ... there's nothing that prepares you for it. It's just the scariest thing you've ever seen."
Trivia:
• Michelle Wie won the Women's Amateur Public Links Championship at age 13, making her the youngest person, male or female, to win an adult USGA championship.
• Set record as youngest player to play her way into an LPGA event (12 years, 4 months, 14 days at 2002 Takefuji Classic) via a qualifying round. This record was later broken.
• Holds record as youngest player to make the cut in an LPGA event (13 years, 5 months, 17 days at 2003 Kraft Nabisco Championship).
Michelle Wie Biography:
A phenom in the world of golf, Michelle Wie is traveling a path that is not just new to women's golf, but unique in the annals of all of golf history. How successful that path will be remains to be seen.
Only 17 years old by the end of 2006, Wie had already earned around $20 million in her rookie professional season - a previously unheard of figure for a female golfer.
That earning power was due largely to her star power around the world, which is driven not just by a winning smile and engaging personality, but by a series of achievements no other golfer has ever before had.
While Wie, by the end of 2008, still had not won a single professional tournament - and had only one victory of note in her past (the 2003 USGA Women's Amateur Public Links Championship) - it was her ability to excel at the highest levels of women's golf at such a young age, and her willingness to attempt playing at the highest levels of men's golf, that made her a lightning rod for attention, adulation, and criticism.
Wie's unusual path to golf stardom meant bypassing top junior competition and most top amateur competition to compete in LPGA Tour events as a sponsor's exemption, while also playing in traditionally men's tours around the world. She has come close a couple times to making the cut on the PGA Tour, but has also stumbled badly in some PGA Tour events (and during 2007, even in some LPGA events).
Her track record on the LPGA Tour through the end of 2006 was strong despite the lack of a victory, with high finishes, including many Top 5s, the norm. Wie's best finish is second place and she has been a strong contender in several LPGA majors.
However, Wie's career path took a gloomy turn beginning at the end of 2006, when she developed soreness in one wrist. Things worsened in early 2007, when she suffered a fractured wrist after a fall.
Then the Wie camp made matters worse by attempting to return Michelle to tournament play much too soon. In her first round back following the wrist injury, she was 14-over par when she walked off the course in the 2007 Ginn Tribute. Wie struggled mightily through all of 2007.
In 2008, she began regaining her former form, but controversy still stalked her. She was in second place at the LPGA State Farm Classic after three rounds, but was disqualified for failing to sign a scorecard.
Wie looked much better over the second half of 2008, leading her fans to hope 2009 would mark a full return to form. For the first time, in 2009 Wie will be a member of the LPGA Tour, having successfully navigated LPGA Q-School at the end of 2008.
For more info about Michelle Wie, see this biographical article with more details about the development of her early career. Also see the Michelle Wie timeline, and visit the Michelle Wie index for more.
