And she has won at the amateur level - an amateur level that was already a step up from the level her contemporaries were playing at. Her Publinks title came at age 13, and she beat Virada Nirapathpongporn - the best collegiate golfer in America at that time - in the final. She proved she could win at a level that was already higher than the junior tournaments other golfers her age were playing.
She also proved she was competitive at the highest level, the LPGA, so why not keep playing at that highest level? Finishing fourth at an LPGA major, as she did at age 14, surely holds as many lessons for a highly intelligent young lady as winning a junior amateur title.
When all is said and done, it doesn't matter what the rest of us think, only what Michelle Wie and her team believe is the best path for her to take. I trust her and her family's instincts, but more than that, I trust the instincts of her golf instructors.
Gary Gilchrist, her first instructor, told me in mid-2004 that playing pro events was her best bet, given that she was already competitive in them. If she's going head-to-head the likes of Christie Kerr, Juli Inkster, Grace Park, Se Ri Pak, et.al., and sometimes beating them, how can that be a bad thing?
Her instructor now is David Leadbetter, who stands to make a ton of money once Michelle Wie turns pro ... but only if she's as great as everyone believes she can be. Leadbetter is one of the best teachers, and he has a powerful financial interest in Wie's development. If he believes playing pro events at the expense of some amateur tournaments is what's best for Wie's development, I'll accept his judgment.
3. Is Michelle Wie an over-hyped commodity who hasn't accomplished anything to warrant the attention she receives?
No accomplishments? Doesn't warrant the attention? Wrong, and wrong again.
Over-hyped? Hmmm, arguably, but it can't be known if she's truly been over-hyped for another 10 or even 15 years, when we'll finally know whether she's lived up to that hype. Besides, Wie has no control over what others say about her, or how others promote her.
If there's any over-hyping going on, it's by those of us in the media. But even if that's the case, the hype is in direct response to the interest of golfers and golf fans. The proof is in the ratings. The proof is right here on About.com Golf, where, during the Sony Open, our pages dealing with Michelle Wie skyrocketed, becoming the most popular on the site.
As long as Wie is a drawing card for ratings, for periodical readers, for Web surfers, then television networks, magazines and newspapers, and Web sites will continue to "hype" her.
But do her accomplishments match the hype? Yes, they do.
Let's take a closer look at how Wie has fared on the LPGA Tour, against the best women golfers in the world.
At age 12, she Monday qualified for her first LPGA Tour event.
In 2003, at age 13, she made the cut in 5 of 6 LPGA Tour events. (She also shot 73 in Monday qualifying for the PGA Tour Sony Open, beating 50 male professionals.) She played in the final pairing at an LPGA major.
In 2004, at age 14, she made the cut in 7 of 7 LPGA Tour events, with two Top 10s, placing outside the Top 20 only once. In her two majors, she finished 4th and 13th.
Did I say at the beginning that Michelle Wie is already one of the Top 10 American women golfers at age 15? Let me amend that: She was one of the Top 10 American golfers at age 14!
Let's now take a closer look at Wie's 2004 play on the LPGA Tour.
Next Page: What Wie's Results Show
