Michelle Wie

[kimpossible]

American teenager Michelle Wie could become the first woman to play in The Open at St Andrews later this year.

Organisers have agreed for the first time to allow women to enter if they qualify through the normal channels.

The ruling opens the door for the 15-year-old, the only female golfer who has so far targeted an Open place.

She has accepted an invitation to play at July's John Deere Classic, which gives an Open place to the leading player who hasn't already qualified.

Until Tuesday's ruling, the Royal & Ancient Golf Club would have been forced to refuse Wie entry even in the unlikely event she had won the John Deere Classic because it has a "men-only" restriction on the Open entry form.


The only Olympic sport where the two sexes compete together is equestrianism and it is not surprising therefore it is taking a long time
Peter Dawson
R&A chief executive

The R&A has already voted to remove it in time for next year's tournament at Hoylake near Liverpool although it was too late to remove the restriction for this year's event.

But on Tuesday officials said they would waive it if the Hawaiian youngster qualified.

"If Michelle Wie wins the John Deere Classic, she would qualify for the Open championship," R&A chief executive Peter Dawson told a news conference at St Andrews.

"There is a clause in the entry form for this year's tournament about the championship committee having the discretion to accept or refuse any entry."


It seems pointless for a woman to take part in The Open, as she would never be able to win
From VB
Have your say on Five Live

BBC Radio Five Live reporter Andrew Cotter, who was at St Andrews, said Wie needs to finish in the top ten in the John Deere Classic, which takes place in Illinois a week before the Open, to have a chance of qualifying.

"If she was to become the leading player there not already qualified for the Open, which might mean something like a fifth or tenth-place finish, she would be playing in the Open this year."

Even a top ten finish would seem highly unlikely, with Wie - who is still an amateur - failing to make the cut for the final stages of the men's events she has entered to date.

Cotter said the R&A said it had not yet had any Open entries from women for this year but would take each case on its merit.

Dawson added: "There is no resistance to women playing in the Open championship if they can qualify for the championship.

"The hesitancy is in the detail, not in the principle.


Analysis: Can a woman ever truly compete?

"For example, a scratch woman amateur does not play off the same tees as a scratch male amateur," he said.

"It's new ground in sport as a whole.

"The only Olympic sport where the two sexes compete together is equestrianism and it is not surprising therefore it is taking a long time.

"We've not asked players their views. We are not in the habit of taking polls, but we keep our ears to the ground. There won't be a complete consensus on this.

"I've consulted with the tours on this matter and I can't say I have met any resistance to it."

Women have already taken on the men.

Two years ago, world number one Annika Sorenstam became the first female to appear on the US Tour since 1945.

Britain's Laura Davies has also played in a tournament in Australia co-sanctioned by the European and Australasian tours while Wie, then 14, missed the cut by only one stroke at last year's Sony Open.

Former European tour executive director Ken Schofield let it be known before his retirement last year that he hoped Davies' appearance on the circuit was a one-off.

But Martin Kippax, chairman of the Royal and Ancient Club's championship committee, insisted Schofield's view was not shared by the majority.

"We are not resentful - there is no resistance to it here. It's novel and something that is new needs to be considered," he said.

"We are not dragging our feet in any way. We are giving it the consideration it deserves because there needs to be a level playing field. We are perfectly happy about it."

The Open Championship starts on 14 July.

[bluemonq]

wait, i'm confused. so would michelle be teeing off the same distance or not?

[foreverfornever]

If there is so much interest from the public seeing women playing alongside men, I think it would be better to have a Grand Slam sort of tournament having the best male golfers and female golfers to compete. Personally, I think it would be weird seeing her (or any other female golfers) playing in any of the men tournament, after all, women have their own events. And the same can be said for men playing in women tournaments too.

[lethal]

If the women can compete on even grounds as men, they should be allowed to compete. If Wie's hitting from the same tees as the men and beats them fair and square, then she deserves all the accolades.

I do wish she would actually dominate women's amateur tournaments. Woods dominated the men's amateur competition before he turned pro. It helped him develop his killer instinct that helped him win titles as a pro.

[deez nuts]

not only is she a phenom, she also draws a crowd and attention to the sport because she's attractive. i know tons of people that don't watch golf that watches golf when she plays. she has the same exact effect tiger woods has on people that normally don't know much about golf.

i'm more concern that she might end up as some kind of side show.

[tommyhtown]

She will have to tee off at the same distance as the men in the British Open, if qualified, as she did when she competed with men in other events.

Michelle got game. I just wish that she would concentrate more on LPGA events and big amatuer events before she ventures into the men's tour again.

And yeah I agree that she will bring in a new group of fans to the game of golf. I anticipate more women will participate in the game or at least show an interest in golf if she does qualify for the British Open or makes a cut in one of the men's pro tour event.

[nola]

If the women can compete on even grounds as men, they should be allowed to compete. If Wie's hitting from the same tees as the men and beats them fair and square, then she deserves all the accolades.I agree.

[younggiftedandblack]

i'm more concern that she might end up as some kind of side show.

She will if she doesn't start wining some of these events.

[bluemonq]

you mean like anna sorenstam?

[younggiftedandblack]

you mean like anna sorenstam?
Not exactly. I was referring to winning big professional tours period. Whether they be LPGA or PGA.

[raacluse]

There's a sports column in today's Wash. Post that echoes what lethal is saying:

Wie is setting the wrong goals (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/06/AR2005050600714.html)

(Looks like she'll be in my neck-'o-the-woods, next month, for the LPGA tournament.)

[lethal]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05166/521728.stm

The outcome, for Michelle Wie, justified everything that preceded it. Because Wie was a 15-year-old golf prodigy competing among older amateurs, and because Wie was a female competing among 84 men, she stood out from the minute she took her first of 145 golf strokes.

Most golfers yesterday were trailed by their parents, maybe a smattering of relatives. Wie was trailed by her parents ... and roughly 100 spectators ... and an armed officer. On a break in between the 36-hole marathon, she didn't eat with the other golfers. She ducked into a private room. She signed autographs at the end, penning her name even for those who had played against her.

She stood out in every way. And by finishing tied for first -- equal with Altoona's Artie Fink Jr. with a 1-over 145 -- Wie justified the hype that she never even wanted in the first place. By finishing among the top two at yesterday's qualifier, Wie clinched a spot in next month's U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, in Lebanon, Ohio.

That means several things: Wie became the first female to qualify for a USGA championship. She can dig deeper into history if she wins the July 11-16 amateur championship because the winner of that event gains a ticket to the Masters. That remains Wie's goal.

"It would mean a lot to me," Wie said. "That was my goal since the beginning. Now it's one step closer."

For all 36 holes, Wie was grouped with a 21-year-old -- Mike Larkin, a recent graduate of Towson University -- and a 52-year-old, Tim Murphy, a manager for the Pennsylvania Turnpike and a player whose swing borrowed elements of a hockey slap shot. By comparison, Wie looked as if she had stepped out of a magazine cover photo.

"I'd never played in front of [a gallery] like that before," Larkin said. "I was a little nervous."

A small sign posted outside of a motel near the course read "Good Luck Michelle Wie." There was no mention of the 84 players she was trying to beat. And in that way, Wie was competing not just for first or second place, but also to underscore the legitimacy of her fame.

She did just that, even without her game in perfect shape. Speaking after her round, Wie admitted she was tired at the beginning. After all, she had played just two days earlier in the LPGA Championship.

After 18 holes, Wie, finishing with a 71, was the only player under par. Three players, Fink included, lurked one shot behind.

A brief thunderstorm late in the afternoon temporarily suspended play at 7:04 p.m., as Wie's group was four holes from finishing -- but within the hour, skies cleared and play resumed. And the last element of Wie's round unfolded as scripted.

On a par 3 -- Wie's 34th hole of the day -- she missed a 3-foot putt and ended with a bogey, pounding her putter against the ground in frustration. Still, she rebounded by parring the final two holes, and upon arriving at the scorer's table, she quickly learned of her fate.

Wie will have a shot at the Masters. She's dreamed of playing there since she watched the tournament on TV as a young child.

"And it was really pretty," she said.

[raacluse]

The idea of visiting the Bulle Rock course to see her play at the LPGA, crossed my mind, over the weekend. (The course is not far from where I work.)
But I'm not that into golf. Didn't know how she did, until today.

[younggiftedandblack]

She's getting better. She's tied for the top spot now.

[VV o n g B a]

*cough* choke *cough*

[Grasshopper]

*cough* choke *cough*
LOL.

Yep, she's been a bad girl.

Spanky, spanky time. :tongue:

http://goldsea.com/Asiagate/504/michellew.jpg

Watch the resident dykaroos delete all this. :rolleyes:

[kurei kun]

LOL.

Yep, she's been a bad girl.

Spanky, spanky time. :tongue:

http://goldsea.com/Asiagate/504/michellew.jpg

Watch the resident dykaroos delete all this. :rolleyes:

she's like 15

my god.

[lethal]

*cough* choke *cough*

The girl's 15 and an amateur. Plus, did you notice what the rest of the field shot? It was a tough course on a very tough day.

Watch the resident dykaroos delete all this. :rolleyes:

What the hell are you talking about?

[VV o n g B a]

The girl's 15 and an amateur. Plus, did you notice what the rest of the field shot? It was a tough course on a very tough day.i did actually. my comment was just some tough love. i really wanted to see her win. but birdie kim winning w/ that last shot was pretty sweet too.

[tommyhtown]

Michelle just missed too many short putts yesterday. May be next time.

[Grasshopper]

I can't believe she's 15.

She looks like a recent college grad.

She could be a competative top golfer for the next 30+ years. It's amazing.

http://goldsea.com/Asiagate/504/michellew.jpg

And the blonde haired girl next to her is only 17. :eek:

She looks like she's in her mid 20s.

I'm telling you it's the growth hormones they're putting in the chickens these days.

Makes girls mature faster.............your Honor. :eek: :biggrin:

[yoMAMA]

I can't believe she's 15.

She looks like a recent college grad.

She could be a competative top golfer for the next 30+ years. It's amazing.

http://goldsea.com/Asiagate/504/michellew.jpg

And the blonde haired girl next to her is only 17. :eek:

She looks like she's in her mid 20s.

I'm telling you it's the growth hormones they're putting in the chickens these days.

Makes girls mature faster.............your Honor. :eek: :biggrin:

kids these days :tongue:

michelle should mate with tiger's clone [after she's 18 of course=p] [cauz the original one is taken i guess] to create the world's next generation superpower golfer.

:biggrin:

[younggiftedandblack]

You can't keep using the excuse ''The girl's 15 and an amateur."

If she's just an amateur, then she needs to spend more time on the amatuer circuit to perfect her short game.

Once you step into the pro arena then you're a pro. End of story

[lethal]

You can't keep using the excuse ''The girl's 15 and an amateur."

If she's just an amateur, then she needs to spend more time on the amatuer circuit to perfect her short game.

Once you step into the pro arena then you're a pro. End of story

1) LPGA rules don't allow a player to turn pro until they turn 18.
2) Regardless of amateur status, the fact that she's 15 denotes relative inexperience. She needs more experience playing with a lead to develop the killer instinct.
3) Tiger Woods started competing in PGA tournaments as an amateur at age 16. His failures at that tender age were not held against him. He wasn't called a "choker."
4) Annika Sorenstram, the reigning dominant player in Women's golf, shot like a 77 on Sunday. 1 player in the entire field shot under par. It was a damn tough day on the course.
5) This wasn't just any old pro tournament, it was the US Open, featuring all of the best players in the world.

[tommyhtown]

Don't forget that she finished second in the the LPGA Championship, another major tournament for the LPGA, about a month prior to the US Open.

[younggiftedandblack]

Good points lethal, but she still needs work on her short game. Why not dominate the amateur ranks before making that jump to pro or if the rules allow play both tours?

[lethal]

Good points lethal, but she still needs work on her short game. Why not dominate the amateur ranks before making that jump to pro or if the rules allow play both tours?

Well, the story that I posted at the beginning of the thread said that she's the first woman to qualify for the US Amateur Public Links Tournament. She's trying. But there's only so many amateur tournaments out there. Why not try to hone your game against the best?

Personally, I think she should play in Junior Girls tournaments and dominate them to help develop the killer instinct. However, when Annika played in a men's tournament, she said it help her improve her game, by playing against the best. From that point on (about 2 years ago), she's won over half of the tournaments she's entered and generally dominated the women's tour. I think Michelle Wie can use that bit of advice from the best female golfer in the world.

[mr. x]

filling out nicely but i still say in a few years she dates and/or marries a white guy and breaks all our hearts

[lethal]

^ dude, get a date and let the bitterness go

[younggiftedandblack]

Well she's on pace to make the PGA cut. If she does and is successful I wonder if in the future more and more tournaments will become mixed and see the end of an LPGA and PGA?

[kurei kun]

choked again.

[haplesshobo]

i believe the reference to her age was about how, ahem, mature she looks.

when i was that age, i don't remember the girls looking like that.

[yoMAMA]

i believe the reference to her age was about how, ahem, mature she looks.

when i was that age, i don't remember the girls looking like that.

her genes mutated :biggrin:

[hooligan]

lethal 5
younggiftedandblack 4
kurei kun 2
tommyhtown 2
Grasshopper 2
yoMAMA 2
VV o n g B a 2
raacluse 1
haplesshobo 1
mr. x 1

here are the stats for the thread, notice something?

[lethal]

And this is atypical of the gender ratio of posters in the Sports forum how?

You're bringing the fight here for the wrong reasons, hooligan.

Try another thead in a different forum.

[hooligan]

Well, if you don't think it's funny that a thread about an APIA female athlete warrants these posts from men, then can you do me a huge favor and delete my posts please. Thank you.

[mr. x]

Well, if you don't think it's funny that a thread about an APIA female athlete warrants these posts from men, then can you do me a huge favor and delete my posts please. Thank you.

well I spose the womenfolk don't come here as much anyway, as sports tends to be a male-dominated topic in the most abstract

[lethal]

Well, if you don't think it's funny that a thread about an APIA female athlete warrants these posts from men, then can you do me a huge favor and delete my posts please. Thank you.

So, men can't comment on a female APA athlete? So where are the male APA athletes we can comment on? (does not identify with Asians) Tiger Woods? (who cares professional soccer player) Brian Ching? (retired) Michael Chang? (from Japan) Ichiro?

Listen, be smart with your efforts. Go where it matters and where your message actually has relevance. Don't waste your efforts in the Sports forum.

[nola]

Good thread and comments, Andy.

But just to clue everyone in, 25% of the posts on this thread were about a top female athletes' looks and sexuality. Therefore the amount of interest in this thread about a top female golfer may not be about her astonishing talent but about her sexuality.

[mr. x]

Good thread and comments, Andy.

But just to clue everyone in, 25% of the posts on this thread were about a top female athletes' looks and sexuality. Therefore the amount of interest in this thread about a top female golfer may not be about her astonishing talent but about her sexuality.
welcome to America

and lethal, chill OUT man.

[nola]

Sexism should not exist anywhere.

And it's great when guys confront sexism.

Welcome to a better future.

[DragonKnight]

Sexism should not exist anywhere.

And it's great when guys confront sexism.

Welcome to a better future.
Well said.

[Grasshopper]

Sexism should not exist anywhere.

And it's great when guys confront sexism.

Welcome to a better future.
Sexism or heterosexuality?

Maybe if more of the guys here converted to homosexuality, you and Martino would be happier. Of course for different reasons. :eek: :biggrin:

If Michele Wie looked like Margaret Cho or Rosie O'Donnell there would probably be less of the hideous male "sexism" on this thread that you think is so horrible.

But what if Michele Wie doesn't mind it if people are recognizing her golf achievements and that some guys think she's cute.

Would that make her a sell out to the patriarchal, male sexist system?

Is it just another example of Sexist Asian Man haunting the Asian American community along with the hordes of Asiaphiliacs? :eek:

[DragonKnight]

^Oh geez, she's only 15 yrs old. Go jerk off to more mature material. :rolleyes:

BTW, people can have a healthy heterosexuality and not be sexist. You (among others), on the other hand, are pushing sexism. Shove your garbage around somewhere else.

[Grasshopper]

^Oh geez, she's only 15 yrs old. Go jerk off to more mature material. :rolleyes:
More irrational hysterics. :rolleyes:

[DragonKnight]

More irrational hysterics. :rolleyes:
Laf. Only in your eyes. Besides, this thread is about her skills as a golfer. But you weren't exactly focused on just that, were you?

[robotic]

More irrational hysterics. :rolleyes:

you love this line dontcha :tongue:

hysterics is also a connotation for exclamation and exaggeration a.k.a. your claims.

[pikachupacabra]

Soooo...is she ever going to qualify? At her current age, she has a lot of room for growth! But (and it's only been twice, so caution caution!) she is showing a "habit" of choking at the end...chalk it up to youth and inexperience? or a dangerous showing of a possible lapse and breakdown in concentration?

[mr. x]

Sexism should not exist anywhere.

And it's great when guys confront sexism.

Welcome to a better future.
we may be a forum about empowerment but guys are guys. sexism sells, it may not be fair and I don't necessarily like it but it sells.

an attractive woman will always get more attention, good game or not

[DragonKnight]

we may be a forum about empowerment but guys are guys. sexism sells, it may not be fair and I don't necessarily like it but it sells.

an attractive woman will always get more attention, good game or not
I'm sure they said the same thing about racism in the south about 50 yrs ago. Things change.

As for "guys are guys"...BULLSHIT. You can be a man and still not push your sexist views...if you have any that is. So speak for yourself. You ain't speaking for this guy.

[Napoleon Chynamite]

There's something to be said about women being judged more by their looks than their competence or skill level in society.

But I don't necessarily think that commenting on how physically attractive a female athlete is in a specific forum largely dominated by heterosexual men is necessarily sexist or inappropriate.

If this was a music forum largely dominated by women and some thread got started about Ken Oak and his abilities and talents, I'm sure there would be a few female posts here and there remarking what a good-looking guy he is, although perhaps they would be a lot less oriented towards the idea of sex and more just toward his appearance.

But I guess if there is a trend of focusing only or mainly on a woman's looks as opposed to her skill in the sports forum then there is a problem, but once again I'm saying that merely commenting on how good she looks isn't always sexist. Don't want to pull out the men-will-be-men card but sometimes all it amounts to is excessive testosterone and horniness. Nevertheless I haven't been hanging around the sports forum long enough to form any type of observation-based opinion.

I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with anyone, so don't use my post to back up your views. And Michelle is 15. Seriously. Even if you think she's hot there's plenty of um...legal ass we can turn to without worrying about repercussions.

[lethal]

Getting back on topic. The amateur public links tournament started today.

Michelle Wie is in 84th place after the first round shooting a 6 over 76. The top 64 after tomorrow's round qualify for the match play portion to determine the winner.

http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=2105759

It doesn't look like she's going to qualify for the Masters.

Its probably her last chance to qualify as an amateur since it is rumored that she will petition to turn pro early on her 16th birthday in October.

[mr. x]

Getting back on topic. The amateur public links tournament started today.

Michelle Wie is in 84th place after the first round shooting a 6 over 76. The top 64 after tomorrow's round qualify for the match play portion to determine the winner.

http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=2105759

It doesn't look like she's going to qualify for the Masters.

Its probably her last chance to qualify as an amateur since it is rumored that she will petition to turn pro early on her 16th birthday in October.
she's still young, like they say, her male opponents are upwards of more than 3 times her age.

[lethal]

Wie shot a 2 over 72 today, which puts her close to qualifying in the top 64. It won't be determined until all the golfers have finished their rounds today.

http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=2106365

BTW, the leader after the first round was Thai-American Chan Song (http://ramblinwreck.collegesports.com/sports/m-golf/mtt/song_chan00.html), older brother of LPGA playing twins Aree (http://www.lpga.com/player_results.aspx?id=258) and Naree (http://www.lpga.com/player_results.aspx?id=3451) Song.

[lethal]

Wie tied for 49th after 2 rounds, qualifying her for the match play championship round. She'll be playing against Will Claxton, a quarterfinalist a year ago, in her first-round match on Wednesday morning.

http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=2106365

The top qualifier was Anthony Kim, who shot rounds of 71 and 65 for 4-under 136, a dozen shots better than Wie. Kim is a two-time All-American who will be a junior at Oklahoma this fall.

[younggiftedandblack]

"I don't think she should be here," said Danny Green, who tied for second in medal play after matching the tournament low with a 65 for a 2-under 138. "I think she should play in the women's tournaments because they don't let the men play in women's tournaments. I just don't agree with that, but it's not my call. She qualified and she is going by the rules. She's here and she is a great player. I've got nothing against that."

While I think he's crying over nothing, he does raise and interesting point.

How come the men can't play in the LPGA?

[pikachupacabra]

While I think he's crying over nothing, he does raise and interesting point.

How come the men can't play in the LPGA?


Well, I guess since men's bodies are usually more muscular than women's bodies in general, it's an unfair matchup. It's like having a children vs. adult contest. The children can step up and compete in an adult contest whenever they feel ready to, or never, if it suits them, but it would most likely be unfair for the adult to compete in the children's contest (but it's not guaranteeing that they would win...just saying they would most likely have very good odds). Does that analogy make sense?

[haplesshobo]

I'm sure they said the same thing about racism in the south about 50 yrs ago. Things change.

As for "guys are guys"...BULLSHIT. You can be a man and still not push your sexist views...if you have any that is. So speak for yourself. You ain't speaking for this guy.

The racism witnessed 50 years ago was something specifically ingrained and taught by the society at that point.
The fact that a large part of the population has rejected those specific prejudices shows that the prejudices and racism at that particular time need not be universal or innate.

But, to deny that men are not hardwired to notice a woman's physical beauty just seems hopeless. I don't care how enlightened a man is, assuming he's hetorsexual, he will always respond more to a beautiful woman than a non-beautiful woman assuming everything else is the same. Your eyes probably dilated a little more for a more conventionally attractive woman even though you might not be aware of it.

If I remember correctly, there's even been studies with babies who responded and tended to look at pictures of faces deemed more beautiful. All of this occured before these babies had a chance to internalize or learn from any of the sexism in the cultural mileu.

[DragonKnight]

^Hey haplesshobo, maybe you should read the posts that a respected moderator of YW posted up after my own posts...

Getting back on topic...

...yah. I'm pretty sure other members of YW feel the same. Now get back on topic, foolios. :rolleyes:

[haplesshobo]

^Hey haplesshobo, maybe you should read the posts that a respected moderator of YW posted up after my own posts...

...yah. I'm pretty sure other members of YW feel the same. Now get back on topic, foolios. :rolleyes:

Yes, but maybe you should also have read the earlier posts by the same respected moderator of YW who said:

You're bringing the fight here for the wrong reasons.

Try another thead in a different forum.

And, repeated himself when he said:

Listen, be smart with your efforts. Go where it matters and where your message actually has relevance. Don't waste your efforts in the Sports forum.

Despite two different posts by that person, you still insisted on bringing up the topic of sexism two or three more times after that.

So, its do as you say and not as you do? Or, is it some rule where we ignore what the moderator when he says it only two times, and finally listein when he says it three times?

GOAL!!

Or, to get back on topic,

EAGLE!!

[haplesshobo]

I love Wie's response to the criticism:

"I don't really care what they think because I actually qualified for this event. So I feel I belong here. I'm not looking for 100 percent support. I know there are going to be people against me. I'm not going to stop just for them."

[thaite]

Folks, for the last time, lets keep it on topic. That being, golf and Michelle Wie.

[lethal]

Wie won her first round match vs Claxton by hitting a birdie on the 18th hole. She moves onto the 2nd round to play C.D. Hockersmith of Richmond, Ind., in the second round Thursday. The third round of match play follows in the afternoon.

http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=2107110

[Arex]

While I think he's crying over nothing, he does raise and interesting point.

How come the men can't play in the LPGA?That guy sounds like a damn whiner.

Good luck to Wie!

RX

[mr. x]

While I think he's crying over nothing, he does raise and interesting point.

How come the men can't play in the LPGA?
cuz that'd be like The Onion article (in my dumb century) about the first white player breaking into the negro leagues

[lethal]

Wie won her second round match vs Hockersmith and will now play at 1:20 PM vs most likely Jim Renner.

Here's the tournament bracket.

http://www.usapl.org/scoring/reversetree.html

[power puff girl]

i'm not really surprised that the boyz pay more attention to michelle wie, even though she's 15. that's probably one of the sick and perverted reasons why they're into her so much because she's basically jail bait and most likely a virgin. what kind of message does that send?

we saw this with alicia silverstone years ago, when grown men drooled and masturbated over a under 18 girl. but, once she got older, nobody paid attention to her. and, that's what will happen to the olsen twins. a lot of sick men lusted after the twins when they were under 18, but after that age, will lose interest. and, the same with lindsay loham.

[younggiftedandblack]

That guy sounds like a damn whiner.

Good luck to Wie!

RX
But he does bring up a good point and points outthe double standard.

Is there a rule saying men can't play on the LPGA?

[Arex]

But he does bring up a good point and points outthe double standard.

Is there a rule saying men can't play on the LPGA?No, it's kind of a stupid point as already pointed out by Pika. Sure, it's technically a double standard, but it makes sense for the reasons already stated. Or do you disgree with those reasons? Moreover, do you actually think any men in the PGA want to play in the LPGA?

[lethal]

Wie made some amazing shots today and won both her matches today and qualified for the quarterfinals.

http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=2107737

But he does bring up a good point and points outthe double standard.

Is there a rule saying men can't play on the LPGA?

Yes, there's a rule that says men can't compete in the LPGA. There's no gender restriction on men's tournaments because they're technically "Open" tournaments for all professions to compete in regardless of age or gender. The Seniors tournaments are age restricted and LPGA tournaments are gender restricted.

Why would men want to compete on the LPGA anyway? The prize money is far lower and so is the prestige level.

[younggiftedandblack]

No, it's kind of a stupid point as already pointed out by Pika. Sure, it's technically a double standard, but it makes sense for the reasons already stated. Or do you disgree with those reasons? Moreover, do you actually think any men in the PGA want to play in the LPGA?

I disagree with those reasons. It's hypocritical and sexist IMO. Butthat's another topic for a different day.

As for your second question. Why not? Golf is golf, money is money and winning is winning.

ETA because I didn't see lethal's second point. So I guess mine is moot.

[Arex]

^--- I suppose men could always start a MPGA if they wanted to exclude women.=) If the PGA was intended to be for men only, I guess allowing women to play in it, but prohibiting men to play in the women's league would be kind of sexist, since it assumes that men as a group are more capable than women. Unfortunately, for the time being, that looks to be true. Maybe give 'em a few years to catch up and they can do away with the gender-based leagues. Although, in fairness, they may simply want a league of their own if the PGA has been a de facto men's league since the beginning of time.

Given everything you've said, do you really think men should be able to play in the LPGA? Should men be able to play in the WNBA? Should college-aged kids be allowed to play in little league? Assuming the compensation was based purely on skill level so that a man playing in the PGA/NBA would make the same as he would in the LPGA/WNBA, but obviously the man would have a better chance of dominating in the LPGA/WNBA, do you really think men would want to play in those leagues? Would you?

I heard Wie lost in her quarter final round. That's too bad.=( So close!

RX

[younggiftedandblack]

As I metioned before my point is moot because I always thought that the PGA was for men and not an open event for anyone.

While as lethal metioned the LPGA is for women.

With that said what's to keep organizations from barring people based on size or race?

Anyway congrats to Ms. Wei for getting as far as she did.

[lethal]

Wie lost her quearterfinal round match. However, she has earned an exemption to play in next year's Public Links Amateur Tournament if she does not turn pro beforehand.

http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=2108560

With that said what's to keep organizations from barring people based on size or race?

Private organizations (not state supported, not public accomodations, etc) can keep people out for whatever reasons they want. Do you think the KKK is forced to admit black members?

Aside from that, the PGA would never be allowed to restict its tournaments based on race. Some of the tournaments are played on public (state supported) courses, among other reasons.

So to answer your question, the short answer is the Constitution. Specifically, the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

[yoMAMA]

michelle wie....marketer's dream?

The New York Times
July 18, 2005
A Teenage Golfer May Also Be a Marketer's Dream
By LOUISE STORY

Michelle Wie came in 23rd at the United States Women's Open last month, behind other personable young golfers - the winner, Birdie Kim, 23, and Brittany Lang, 19, and Morgan Pressel, 17, who tied for second place. Ms. Wie failed to survive elimination in the P.G.A. Tour's John Deere Classic this month and fell short in her attempt to qualify for the Masters tournament next year.

Yet Ms. Wie, 15, is the golfer that sports marketers have their eyes on.

Advertisers say that what differentiates her is her blossoming talent, her personality and her determination to compete with male golfers.

No woman has survived elimination on the P.G.A., the men's golf tour, since Babe Didrikson Zaharias did it in the 1945 Tucson Open. But Ms. Wie, from Honolulu, has made changing that her quest. Ms. Wie, who made history last week as the first woman to qualify for the men's United States Amateur Public Links Championship, is generating a following that one marketer called "Michelle mania."

"She's very much focused at competing not at the top of the women's world, but at the top of the golf world," said Peter Stern, president of the Strategic Sports Group in New York. "She's a great sports story."

Advertisers and network executives said that Ms. Wie could increase interest in golf and command large endorsement deals on a par with the tennis stars Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams, who are each earning about $20 million this year. Tiger Woods earns about $80 million a year in endorsements. The question is whether a female golfer could reach that level.

"There's a lot of speculation that she is to women's golf what Tiger was to men's golf," said Paul Swangard, managing director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon. "As Tiger has moved past that and has just been good for the game of golf, in some many ways I think Michelle will hopefully have the ability to transcend her gender and just be a golfer."

If she survives elimination in the next few years in a P.G.A. Tour event, Ms. Wie would be good at reaching young women and girls, marketers said.

"She's their age and watching her compete with, and in some cases beat, men is pretty inspiring," said Jim Brighters, golf editor for the Sports Network, an international sports wire service based in Hatboro, Pa.

Individual female athletes often gain more attention than women on sports teams, sports marketers said. Golfers, the marketers said, were particularly suited to advertising because golf was generally followed by wealthier people and because golfers usually had longer careers than athletes in other sports.

Within a year of entering the P.G.A. Tour in 1996, Mr. Woods signed five-year deals with Nike for $40 million, with the Titleist unit of American Brands for $20 million. After winning the Masters in 1997, he signed with American Express for $13 million and with the Rolex Watch Company for $7 million, according to Brandweek magazine.

But, in terms of endorsements, Mr. Woods is in a league of his own. He now earns more from them annually than the former National Basketball Association star Michael Jordan, who was the first athlete to win many huge endorsements. Mr. Woods far outearned the tennis star Andre Agassi, who was second in endorsements with $44.5 million last year, according to Sports Illustrated. Most other athletes who earned more than $25 million made the bulk of it in salaries, rather than through endorsements.

Serena Williams made the fifth-highest amount in endorsements last year, $20 million. Since then, a fellow tennis player, Ms. Sharapova, has surpassed Ms. Williams, according to Forbes magazine estimates for June 2004 to June 2005. Other female athletes with endorsement deals in recent years include Anna Kournikova, the tennis player; Mia Hamm, the soccer player; and Marion Jones, the track star.

The most prominent player on the women's professional golf tour, the L.P.G.A., Annika Sorenstam, has endorsement deals with companies like Callaway Golf, Mercedes-Benz, Oakley and Rolex. She earned $7.3 million, third-highest among the female athletes featured by Forbes. Ms. Sorenstam was unsuccessful in making a P.G.A. Tour cut in 2003.

The golf industry has benefited from Ms. Wie's gumption this year. On June 24, about 700,000 people watched the United States Women's Open, the event where Ms. Wie placed 23rd, the highest number of viewers ESPN has ever had for a women's golf event, said Dan Quinn, an ESPN spokesman.

John Wildhack, ESPN's senior vice president of programming, said: "I think she definitely has the ability to be one of those athletes that can drive ratings. The next step for her is to win."

The commissioner of the L.P.G.A., Ty M. Votaw, said Ms. Wie had accomplished a lot for a 15-year-old, but still had a lot to prove.

"If she has just played men's events and missed cuts between now and the time she's 25, that market is not going to be there," Mr. Votaw said. "You have, in Michelle, a very unique situation where she has the ability to be compete on the L.P.G.A. tour and the marketability to be attractive to P.G.A. sponsors who want her to play in the P.G.A. Tour events. How long that lasts, time will tell."

Where Ms. Wie ultimately spends most of her time playing - the L.P.G.A. or the P.G.A. - may depend on where she can play best, Mr. Votaw said, adding that Ms. Wie may be able to make more prize money in women's tournaments.

But that does not include endorsement money.

Golfers say it is only a matter of time until Ms. Wie makes the cut at a P.G.A. Tour event.

"She's got to win," said Bob Dorfman, executive creative director of Pickett Advertising in San Francisco, who specializes in matching athletes with marketers. "All the female athletes that are successful are winners. They've won big events."

* Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company
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[nola]

That would be awesome!

[haplesshobo]

Michelle Wie is about to turn professional, and here's an interesting perspective from espn:

Wie will make millions for being differentBy John Hawkins
Golf World

As the father of two young daughters, I've come to understand the importance of balancing common sense and compassion, whether it's in a fight over a toy or the sound of the ice cream truck rolling down the street 20 minutes before dinner. The same application might serve us well when assessing the future of Michelle Wie. She's ready to declare herself a professional golfer, about to become uncommonly rich and unduly famous -- terms dictated by the market for a 15-year-old phenom who hits it like a man and likes to compete against men, but otherwise projects the same sweet tooth for life as Holly Golightly.

Sounds like a winner to me, except that Wie hasn't really won anything, complicating a script that takes on added depth via the calculated tactics of an omnipresent father and red-carpet overtures of celeb-friendly management agency William Morris. Paula Creamer just led the United States to victory in the Solheim Cup. Morgan Pressel recently cruised to victory at the U.S. Women's Amateur, yet Wie is the teenage girl who will cash the biggest endorsement checks. One might easily wonder if the timing of her signing is a sign of the times.

With her sense of style, background and values, Wie will make millions in endorsements.
And so Style beats Substance, 3 and 2, which should surprise no one living in a country where TV shows breathlessly report the birth of Britney Spears' baby or the scent of Jessica Simpson's bath water. No matter how many trophies she does or doesn't have, Wie is an exceptionally marketable young lady, and thus, will be paid accordingly. She will make a lot of money overseas and represent products other golfers (male or female) simply lack the identity for. Not because she is "better" than Creamer or Pressel. Not even by virtue of that huge potential. It's because she is different.

That always has been the story line here. Michelle Wie has separated herself from all her age peers and on-course competitors by precociously branding herself as a "pioneer." It's a bulletproof commercial platform because it doesn't necessarily require a high level of execution. On this road less traveled, you can earn just as many points for the venture as the actual result. Success is measured in very subjective terms: Wie enters a PGA Tour event, plays well but misses the cut, then vows to do better the next time.

She is undaunted by the pursuit because it continues to yield a reward. As long as Michelle keeps trying to beat men, there will be plenty of sponsorship dollars. Like the American flag or a burning bra, she stands for something. All the conventional wisdom in the world isn't going to change that.

In researching and reporting the story of Wie turning pro, I spoke to a number of people, many of them in the golf industry, who were unwilling to go on the record with their thoughts because the announcement wasn't official. A lot of the stuff was negative in tone, making it difficult to publish because it fell in the sour-grapes or axe-to-grind category. Still, it was very useful information because it forced a balance of perspective -- a journalist's mix of common sense and compassion.

One of the biggest issues regards Wie's choice of a management company. William Morris has never represented a pro golfer, nor has the man it hired to guide Wie's career, Ross Berlin, held such responsibilities with another pro athlete. It's as if any designs Wie has to become "famous" are basically sacrilegious, as if the 2003 winner of the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links title should turn down the chance to appear on the "Late Show with David Letterman" out of sheer principle.

I don't know about you, but if my daughter wins a spelling bee and Letterman's people call, there's a fairly decent chance we'll be outside waiting for the limo.

One intelligent person told me that Wie won't further the LPGA's cause by reasoning, "You look at the demographics of women's golf -- you've got a lot of 50-, 60- and 70-year-old women going to these events. Fifteen-year-old girls are not watching LPGA events on TV."

I thought about that for a while, at least until my memory tapped me on the shoulder and reminded me of the thousands upon thousands of kids, minorities and otherwise demographically challenged people who have paid good money to watch Tiger Woods over the years.

In the curious case of Michelle Wie, time will provide the answers, and when the questions involve someone who is 15, there is an abundance of that. Maybe she'll turn into Michelle McGann; maybe she's Tiger with a ponytail. All we know now is that the road less traveled is paved in gold bricks, the journey as lucrative as the destination is uncertain.

John Hawkins is a senior writer for Golf World magazine

[yoMAMA]

expected to make 10 mil first year as pro, have endorsements with nike and samsung.....

:eek:

http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=2167196

[yoMAMA]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051001/ap_on_sp_go_ne/glf_wie_s_plan

[onnihs]

DID YOU HEAR HOW MUCH SHE DONATED TO CHARITY!

$500,000?

bold move for an overnight millionaire, i'd say. but so very generous of her :)

[yoMAMA]

DID YOU HEAR HOW MUCH SHE DONATED TO CHARITY!

$500,000?

bold move for an overnight millionaire, i'd say. but so very generous of her :)

she needs to donate to my (ever dwindling) bank account.

;)

[TB4000]

Saw her interviewed last night. Seems to be taking it in stride. And I saw her standing next to the dude asking theb questions, she's tall as hell. I mean freaky tall. :eek:

[Craig]

she needs to donate to my (ever dwindling) bank account.

;)Stop wasting so much money on condoms.

[yoMAMA]

http://www.fortune.com/fortune/images/fortune/magazine/2005/20051017/frtn.jpg

[neonphoto]

Saw her interviewed last night. Seems to be taking it in stride. And I saw her standing next to the dude asking theb questions, she's tall as hell. I mean freaky tall. :eek:

6 foot even.

I am amazed at her ability to handle all of that pressure, both in the tournaments and with the press.

[hooligan]

where's hapless?

[onnihs]

so am i a pedofreak if i think she's hot?

[yoMAMA]

so am i a pedofreak if i think she's hot?

2 more years!

:wink:

[mrazntre]

has she won a tournament yet?

[thaite]

yessss, finally turned pro, now all she has to do is turn 18, yessss...

[neonphoto]

has she won a tournament yet?

No she hasn't. Doesn't seem to matter right now.

[lethal]

has she won a tournament yet?

She won the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship in 2003, one of the USGA's national championships. At age 13, Wie is the youngest-ever winner of the event.

[neonphoto]

She won the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship in 2003, one of the USGA's national championships. At age 13, Wie is the youngest-ever winner of the event.

I stand corrected. So much for the credibility of the stuff I read.

[Faithless]

How's this for the shits?

Wie was disqualified Sunday after her round when officials determined she incorrectly dropped a ball Saturday. That mistake should have added two shots to Wie's score of 71. Since Wie signed for the 71 instead of 73, she was guilty of signing an incorrect scorecard, which forced the disqualification.
...
The error cost Wie a fourth-place finish in the tournament and a potential first check of $53,126.

Officials ground Wie, take away allowance in pro debut (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/golf/lpga/2005-10-16-wie_x.htm)

Posted 10/17/2005 12:09 AM * By Larry Bohannan, The (Palm Springs, Calif.) Desert Sun

PALM DESERT, Calif. — A week that started with cheers and smiles ended with tears and confusion for Michelle Wie when the 16-year-old was disqualified from the Samsung World Championship, her first tournament as a professional.

Wie was disqualified Sunday after her round when officials determined she incorrectly dropped a ball Saturday. That mistake should have added two shots to Wie's score of 71. Since Wie signed for the 71 instead of 73, she was guilty of signing an incorrect scorecard, which forced the disqualification. (Related items: Sorenstam romps | Final results)

The error cost Wie a fourth-place finish in the tournament and a potential first check of $53,126.

"I learned a great lesson today," said Wie, her eyes red from tears nearly two hours after the tournament ended and rumors of the disqualification surfaced. "From now on I'm going to call a rules official, no matter what it is."

While the infraction occurred Saturday, rules officials weren't approached until late in Sunday's round. LPGA officials didn't give the name of the spectator that raised the possible infraction, but it was later confirmed that Michael Bamberger, a reporter for Sports Illustrated magazine, had talked to the officials.

The rules of golf allow violations of rules to be reported and corrected any time during a tournament, not just during a specific round.

Wie's violation came when she hit a shot into a bush to the left of the seventh green during Saturday's round. She decided the ball was unplayable in the bush and took a one-shot penalty. That penalty allows a player to drop the ball in a playable area, but no close to the hole than the unplayable position. Bamberger reported he felt Wie's drop left her closer to the hole.

"Me and Greg (Johnston, Wie's caddie) were talking when we were up at the shot (Saturday)," Wie said. "He told me watch out that you are not closer. So I made sure that I was farther. I thought I was farther behind. It looked fine to me. I didn't have any doubt in my mind I had it wrong."

Robert O. Smith, a rules official for the LPGA, said he viewed a videotape of the drop.

"If I had to make the ruling based on the videotape, to me it was inconclusive," Smith said.

Smith, LPGA tournament officials Jim Haley, Wie and Johnston returned to the seventh hole after Wie completed play Sunday. After an explanation of what Wie had done, and after measuring the site with string, Smith determined Wie's drop had been improper. Smith said the error was about 12 to 15 inches, Wie referred to it as about three inches.

"But the rules are the rules, whether it's three inches or 100 yards," Wie said. "It's the same thing, and I respect that."

Still Wie had questions about the decision.

"It was all guesswork about where the ball was yesterday, where the ball was originally in the bushes," she said. "It was basically all guesswork."

While the improper drop was a violation of Rule 20-7 of the Rules of Golf, playing from the wrong place, Wie could have simply added the two-stroke penalty to her card if the violation had been revealed before she signed her scorecard Saturday. Once she signed that card, she violated Rule 6, signing an incorrect card, which automatically results in disqualification.

Bamberger said he had concerns about the drop on Saturday, but wanted to hear Wie's story before saying anything. That delay and the bad drop caused the violation.

"If a spectator sees something like that, they need to tell us," Smith said. "If they can tell us right away, she could have played that and we could have caught her in the tent at 18 and it would have been a two-stroke penalty and we play golf today. But once that scorecard is signed, it's history. That's the unfortunate part of it."

Wie remained upset but philosophical about the end of her pro debut.

"I'm really disappointed with my first event, but at least I got it over with," Wie said.

[TB4000]

That's wrong.

[haplesshobo]

That's wrong.

Why? That she got disqualified, or that she 'cheated'?

(I don't know enough about golf to really know how bad it was supposed to be, and if it really gave her an advantage).

[lethal]

She probably didn't intentioally cheat and it probably didn't give her any advantage, but she didn't follow the rules and golf, if anything, is a game that lives by its rules.

The result is too bad for her, but really its not all that big a deal in the long run as long as she learns from it. She still played the tournament as if nothing was wrong and finished 4th (DQ notwithstanding). She learned how to play as a pro under pressure.

[tommyhtown]

Why? That she got disqualified, or that she 'cheated'?

(I don't know enough about golf to really know how bad it was supposed to be, and if it really gave her an advantage).

The infraction didn't give her any advantage. I also felt 'cheat' is a strong word in this case.

Her Sunday performance was disappointing, but hopefully she'll learn and continue to improve based on her first experience as a pro. If not, she should go to Stanford after high school as she and her parents wish. She's in a position where she doesn't have to worry about money, ever.

[s1eve]

Heck, she's only 16. You're bound to make mistakes and learn from them.

[Faithless]

Reporting a DQ is part of game (http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051020/SPORTS0901/510200324/1055/SPORTS)

Posted on: Thursday, October 20, 2005 * GOLF REPORT * By Bill Kwon

Money often costs too much.

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

We all knew that when 16-year-old Michelle Wie turned pro she would be under the gun and under intense scrutiny by the media.

Such scrutiny led largely to her disqualification in the LPGA Samsung World Championship. Wie broke a rule of golf that would have gone unnoticed had she not been so closely watched.

Any other golfer taking a drop from an unplayable lie as Wie did at the seventh hole in Saturday's third round would have escaped notice. Well, maybe except for Annika Sorenstam.

Sports Illustrated's Michael Bamberger blew the whistle on what perhaps has become the most publicized illegal drop in women's golf.

Bamberger's right. But by reporting it more than 24 hours and 25 holes later, it appears that integrity got in the way of a good story.

That's the only bone I have to pick with him — his timing, whatever his rationale afterward.

I can empathize because I'm a fellow whistle-blower when it comes to golf rules. Twice, in fact.

The first happened several years ago in the Maui Open when I was playing in B flight only because there was no C or D flights for guys with my handicap index. I was playing with Riley Wallace, University of Hawai'i men's basketball coach.

We were waiting when a player in the foursome ahead hit a third tee-shot after his first drives went into the kiawe trees in a hazard.

Curious to see what he eventually took on the hole — he was running away in B flight — I checked the scoreboard after the round. He had a bogey-5.

"No way," I told Wallace.

"I wouldn't say anything if I were you," said Wallace, worried about my life and limb. "Besides, the guy's a motorcycle cop. I hate to see you get a speeding ticket."

Still, I told the official scorer, the late David Kim, to question the golfer what happened at the hole. The offender claimed he found his first ball and played it, overlooking the fact that it was now regarded as an abandoned ball with his subsequent drives.

He got disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard,

The second instance came when I was covering the Jennie K. Wilson Invitational. One of the players took a relief from the cart path and liked her lie so much after the free drop that she hit her next shot with her right heel still on the cart path.

A no-no. It's a two-stroke penalty for improving your lie.

In her case, she was informed of the breach by the rules official, Chuck Larson, in time to add two strokes to her score at the 18th hole. She wasn't a happy camper, but she wasn't DQ'd.

Rules are rules. And no other sport has so many rules as golf.

Wie wasn't the only golfer DQ'd on Sunday. Kevin Stadler was disqualified in the Michelin Championship at Las Vegas when he discovered that one of his wedges had a bent shaft, a violation under Rule 4-1 (a) regarding club conformity. Never mind that he did not use or could even use the club.

For Wie, it wasn't the money, but an unfortunate embarrassment in her pro debut, where she would have won $53,126 for finishing in fourth place.

But the DQ proved more costly for Stadler, who was tied for fifth going into the final round. At 167th place on the money list going into the event, Stadler could have used the $160,000 or so he might have earned to make the top 125 and keep his playing card for next year.

Hawai'i's Dean Wilson also was also disqualified earlier this year in the Buick Invitational in San Diego for not signing his scorecard. He had just finished a rain-delayed second round and was hurrying to get to the first tee for the next round.

Wilson had been tied for 16th and who knows how much he could have earned.

"I still had two rounds to go, so I can't say," Wilson said. "Obviously, I could have picked up some money, but who knows how much."

Fortunately for Wilson, he's currently 102nd on the money list at $720,431 with three tournaments to go. "I think I'm safe," said Wilson, adding that he, too, has learned his lesson from his first disqualification as a pro.

There's no justice in golf. Just the rules.

The good thing is that Michelle Wie, who has been anything but routine in whatever she does, is a fast learner.

[yoMAMA]

michelle wie donates 500,000 $ to the katrinas fund.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/golf/10/30/wie.donation.ap/index.html

[Faithless]

michelle wie donates 500,000 $ to the katrinas fund.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/golf/10/30/wie.donation.ap/index.html
She has that kind of money already?

[mrazntre]

http://promomagazine.com/news/nike_signs_wie_100605/

"The deal with Nike pays up to $5 million a year for the four-year agreement."

[Faithless]

http://promomagazine.com/news/nike_signs_wie_100605/

"The deal with Nike pays up to $5 million a year for the four-year agreement."
That's cool.

Could it be premature for Nike to give her this kind of money, though? Or is it just a drop in the bucket for them?

Has she proven herself worthy as a big time pro?

I do love that $500K charitable giving, though. :cool:

[mrazntre]

That's cool.

Could it be premature for Nike to give her this kind of money, though? Or is it just a drop in the bucket for them?

Has she proven herself worthy as a big time pro?

I do love that $500K charitable giving, though. :cool:

1) nike and sony are pretty big companies....

2) it doesn't matter how well she plays because her potential is in her marketability.

[moJo]

2) it doesn't matter how well she plays because her potential is in her marketability.
and her parents (mostly her dad) really know how to market her. i read the Fortune magazine cover story on her and it made me a bit uneasy.

[haplesshobo]

1) nike and sony are pretty big companies....

2) it doesn't matter how well she plays because her potential is in her marketability.

Her potential in marketablility is linked to how well she pays. Marketers want to get a ride on the Wie train because they think she's going to be the woman's equivalent of Tiger Woods. She's shown tantalizing glimpses of this talent, but she hasn't really won anything yet.

If she ends up as just another good player, but not dominant one, that revenue stream is going to dry up as marketers get behind the next big thing or IT girl. She might as well sign up as much as she can now, because nobody can guarantee that she will be as good as the hype. Sports is littered with plenty of talented athletes who could never deliever on their promise.

Anna K. is the only athlete that I can remember that's been marketed despite her lack of success. All other athletes are promoted and marketed because they were winners. And, while I find Michelle Wie to be attractive, she's no Anna K. either. I really didn't like her look at her recent press conference, where she was all made up. So, unless she's willing to wear really, really short skirts, I don't think she has much potential in marketing unless she starts winning at some point.

[Faithless]

Does she need some better heros or what?

Michelle Wie Golfs with Role Model Condoleezza Rice (http://www.firstcoastnews.com/sports/news-article.aspx?storyid=54549)

NEW YORK (AP) -- Teenage golfer Michelle Wie couldn't believe she played golf with one of her role models, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

"I was like, 'Oh my God, it's the secretary of state. They put me in charge of driving her around" in a golf cart, Wie told Time magazine for its issue on newsstands Monday.

"I was like, if I crash, the secretary of state goes down with me," the 16-year-old Hawaiian high school junior said.

When asked what she thought of radio host Rush Limbaugh calling her a "triumph of marketing," Wie, the No. 2 ranked woman golfer, said, "Huh? Who's that?"

When told he hosts a radio talk show, she said, "I don't listen to the radio much."

Created: 3/27/2006 4:48:23 PM

[Golden Monkey]

I know she's on her way to being an all time great and she's already a big woman at only 16. But after seeing these photos I was thinking jeez this is only GOLF. I've never played it but don't you just walk around and hit a little ball with a stick.

The photos make it look like she survived some kind of attack while touring the Middle East.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/dayart/aponline/49654.73JOHN-DEERE-CLASSIC-GOLF.sff.jpg

http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/images/hs/hs1433629_2.jpg

The 16-year-old phenom was treated for heat exhaustion at a local hospital after withdrawing from the John Deere Classic with nine holes left yesterday. She struggled to keep herself from getting sick on a hot, steamy afternoon, and left the course in an ambulance.

[younggiftedandblack]

I know she's on her way to being an all time great...
I used to think the same thing. But she hasn't shown me any improvement. She gets hyped up and I can see why, but she's not winning.

[SunWuKong]

it really depends on where they were playing. we're recording very high temperatures in the past few days. and having lived in central Florida before, i know that just standing outside too long in Florida in the middle of the summer can really dehydrate you and possibly give you heat stroke.

[Napoleon Chynamite]

Michelle Wie looks like a huskier non anorexic version of my cousin.

[TB4000]

^She could give you a run for your money in a battle royale. I saw her in a photo standing next to a grown man. She could throw somebody to the ground without even trying.

[Napoleon Chynamite]

^She could give you a run for your money in a battle royale. I saw her in a photo standing next to a grown man. She could throw somebody to the ground without even trying.

haha. I don't doubt that. I'm assuming you're talking about Wie and not my cousin. My cousin is like 5'8" and 115 lbs.

[lethal]

I used to think the same thing. But she hasn't shown me any improvement. She gets hyped up and I can see why, but she's not winning.

Top 5 in her last 4 LPGA majors. Ranked #2 in the World.

What else do you want to see? Tournament victories? When you only compete in about half a dozen women's tournaments a year, the opportunities are rare. Also, you know how old Tiger Woods was when he won his first tournament?

20 and a half. Michelle Wie just turned 16.

[Irezumi Kiss]

It would suck to see her turn into a golf version of Anna Kournikova. Pretty and talented, but...years pass...and she's the golf version of Patrick Ewing...mad money, primo respect, but no rings on them fingers...

That's all apples and oranges, tho. Honestly, there's nowhere for her to go but up. Keep the faith.

[lethal]

Golf version of Anna Kournakova is Natalie Gulbis.

Calendar girl, high profile, lots of fans, dating Ben Roethlisberger. Never won a tournament.

[Golden Monkey]

Golf version of Anna Kournakova is Natalie Gulbis.

Calendar girl, high profile, lots of fans, dating Ben Roethlisberger. Never won a tournament.

Really. Lucky guy.

You'd think that would be another reason to wear a helmet on the motorcycle. Her, and the fear of paralysis or death. :rolleyes:


http://www.thegolfblog.com/hello/1858818/640/Natalie%20Gulbis%20%20The%20Golf%20Blog%20intervie w-2005.06.08-04.10.58.jpg

[younggiftedandblack]

Top 5 in her last 4 LPGA majors. Ranked #2 in the World.

What else do you want to see? Tournament victories?
A win.

When you only compete in about half a dozen women's tournaments a year, the opportunities are rare.
Weak excuse. They aren't rare if you're good enough and you play every chance you get. What else does she have to do, but play golf? She needs to work on her short game because that's what kills her every single time.

Also, you know how old Tiger Woods was when he won his first tournament?

20 and a half. Michelle Wie just turned 16.
Tiger also played (and won) amatuer and collegiate golf tournys before jumping to pros. Some even before he was 16 [url=http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/2396/tigerwatch.html]Tiger's Record[/quote]

[SunWuKong]

Really. Lucky guy.

You'd think that would be another reason to wear a helmet on the motorcycle. Her, and the fear of paralysis or death. :rolleyes:


http://www.thegolfblog.com/hello/1858818/640/Natalie%20Gulbis%20%20The%20Golf%20Blog%20intervie w-2005.06.08-04.10.58.jpg

i hope that's a bad picture, because she totally has fugly man face in it.

[lethal]

Weak excuse. They aren't rare if you're good enough and you play every chance you get. What else does she have to do, but play golf? She needs to work on her short game because that's what kills her every single time.

1) There's this thing called school that she goes to most of the year.

2) The LPGA disallows membership to people under 18. As a non-member, she is given 6 tournament exemptions a year. She can get more experience playing in Men's tournaments or overseas tournaments. She can't play on college or amateur tournaments anymore since she became a pro.

With her poor putting, she still managed to finish in the top 5 of the last 4 consecutive majors. You know who didn't do that? Every other player on the LPGA tour.

You know the other young American LPGA hotshots?

Natalie Gulbis - Age 23 - 0 career victories
Paula Creamer - Age 19 - 1 career victory
Morgan Pressel - Age 18 - 0 career victories

Seems like you hold her to a higher standard than other golfers.

Tiger also played (and won) amatuer and collegiate golf tournys before jumping to pros. Some even before he was 16 Tiger's Record (http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/2396/tigerwatch.html)

I guess you didn't notice who won the 2003 USGA Women's Amateur Public Links at age 14.

[Faithless]

...
I've never played it but don't you just walk around and hit a little ball with a stick.
...
It might not be a problem in cool weather, I guess. Sounds like she was playing under the hot sun with little protection?

Ever tried weed whacking in the hot sun? It gets exhausting.

[Golden Monkey]

Ever tried weed whacking in the hot sun? It gets exhausting.

Yep. First real job I had as a teenager was as a groundskeeper at a condominium complex and golf course.

Got hot but never got taken off in an ambulance.

They would have just left me to die in the weeds near one of the ponds. :biggrin:

[TB4000]

http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/pga/news?slug=ap-wie-caddie&prov=ap&type=lgns

The Devil Wears Golf Shoes, apparantly. :wink:

[tommyhtown]

I don't think there's anything wrong with that? Tiger fired his first caddy who carried his bag when he won the Masters. BTW, I like the movie 'The Devil Wears Prada.'

I was reading this article by this guy named, E.M. Swift. It sounds like this is a big deal according to this writer since the way the Wie family hired this guy also broke the pro golf protocol.

link (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/golf/08/09/wie.caddie/index.html?cnn=yes)


Ask Juli Inkster. Johnston had caddied for Inkster since 1994 -- a run that included four of her seven major championships -- before he was offered the job carrying Wie's bag when she turned professional last October. It was just before the Solheim Cup, the women's version of the Ryder Cup, an event that Inkster cares very much about.

Given an ultimatum, Johnston chose the young phenom over the then-45-year-old Inkster, who hadn't won in two years. The timing of his defection, and the way it was handled, still makes the Hall of Famer fume.

"It would have been nice to get a phone call from the [Wie] family, saying this is what we're thinking of doing," Inkster told me after she took the first-round lead at the Women's British Open last week with a 66. "I'd had Greg for 11 years. It's not like I was some rookie.

"But that's not the way they [the Wies] do things. Instead they gave him a take-it-or-leave-it in the middle of my season, right before the Solheim Cup. I don't blame him. He's got kids to think about. But that didn't sit well."

Johnston was looking after his future, and there wasn't a caddie on the LPGA tour who wouldn't have done exactly the same thing. This despite the fact that the Wies had already gone through nine caddies between 2003 and '05, when Michelle was an amateur, and that "every time she misses a green, it's the caddie's fault -- except when Dad's on the bag," as one experienced caddie told me at last year's Women's British.

That hasn't changed. I was outside the scorer's trailer at Royal Lytham and St. Anne's last week when Wie got word that she'd been penalized two strokes for grounding her club in a sand trap during the second round. She had accidentally brushed away a clump of moss that was resting behind her ball during her backswing, a transgression that TV cameras clearly showed.

Johnston had told her she couldn't move the impediment, but Wie's parents, father B.J. and mother Bo, were visibly angry as they pulled their 16-year-old daughter aside to get her version of what had happened.

It was a tense scene. Wie's two bodyguards, dressed in Nike golf shirts, were rude and aggressive while keeping photographers and TV cameramen from filming the meeting -- never mind that it was taking place in a mixed zone where interviews routinely were conducted. Michelle was near tears. She hadn't known the rule. She thought if she just continued her swing, there was no violation.

Johnston should have known then and there that his days were numbered.

Of course, this wasn't the first time Wie had been penalized since turning pro. In her very first tournament as a professional, the Samsung World Championship last October, Wie was disqualified for taking an incorrect drop. The violation wasn't discovered until Sports Illustrated writer Michael Bamberger pointed it out a day after Wie had signed the incorrect scorecard. Johnston was on the bag then, too.


I guess the caddie is not at fault for leaving his former boss before a big tournament. What 'Team Wie' did was unforgiveble. And to be upset with the mistake a child made was really bad parenting according to this writer.

The caddie did no wrong it seemed, but he was also on her bag when she got disqualified in her 1st pro tournament for signing an incorrect score card due to an improper drop. Despite his years of experience in caddying shouldn't he know the rules?

I may not agree with her keep competing in men's tournament and somewhat her overexposure and extended coverage, but come on harshly critizing Michelle and her family is ridiculous. I guess she and her family are paying the price of success.

[pikachupacabra]

I couldn't find the other michelle wie threads, so I thought this would go here.


http://www.theonion.com/content/node/55881

[TB4000]

http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/pga/news?slug=ap-wie-stanford&prov=ap&type=lgns

Stanford, here I come.

[yoMAMA]

the surest sign that she is actually tiger's reincarnate.

[returntosender]

tiger's not dead.


yet.

[yoMAMA]

tiger's not dead.


yet.

sorry, i mean to say michelle wie is tiger's doppelganger.

[lethal]

I did some merging of Michelle Wie threads.

[haplesshobo]

And, more and more doubts continue to be raised about Michelle Wie and if she will ever live up to her promise. After shooting 14 over, Wie withdrew from the Ginn Tribute after 16 holes because of a injury but what many people really suspect is a LPGA rule that bans non-tour members for the rest of the year if they shoot over 88. People are asking if she was really hurt, then why wait until the last two holes to withdraw?

[haplesshobo]

And, two days after Michelle Wie withdrew from the Ginn tournament, citing her injured wrist, she's practicing at Bulle Rock, site of this week's McDonald's LPGA Championship which she's going to participate in.

Anna Sorenstam was quoted as saying in response to Wie withdrawal, "I just feel there's a little bit of lack of respect and class just to kind of leave a tournament like that and come out and practice here. You know, I just don't know the situation, if it's injury or whatever it is. It just seemed really weird."

Anna S. is the first golfer to publically call Wie out, but a lot of the other LPGA golfers are anymously raising the same point: if Wie was really injured, why did she still play 16 holes and only withdraw when Wie was perilously close to shooting over 88? And, two days later, after saying her wrist was too injured, Wie is now on the links again practicing for this week's tournament?

I like sports cause it gets settled on the field. And, I've lost some respect for Wie and Michelle Kwan when they use these types of loopholes instead of settling these matters on the field.

[raacluse]

from yesterday's newspaper (Baltimore Sun)... [disclosure: I work in the same county as Bulle Rock]:

Wie defended her actions, saying the only thing she didn't want to jeopardize was playing in this week's tournament as well as the U.S. Women's Open, which begins June 28 at Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club in Southern Pines, N.C.

"If I played those two holes [last week], I wouldn't be here today playing this week," said Wie, who is scheduled to play in the final group off the 10th tee when the 53rd LPGA Championship begins tomorrow. "So I think I made a good judgment call. It was time to shut down my wrist."

Wie said that the LPGA's so-called 88 rule was not on her mind when she withdrew. It appeared there had been communication between her parents and her agent, Greg Nared, before she left the course.

"I don't think about [shooting] 88," said Wie, whose worst previous round was an 85 in an LPGA event in Japan in 2003. "I mean, that's just ridiculous. I'm out there to play as best I can, shoot a low score, and obviously that's not on my mind."

Nor did Wie plan on apologizing to Sorenstam.

"I don't think I need to apologize for anything," she said. "It's just that I played bad and that's what golf is."

Before last week's tournament, Wie had been vague in discussing the injury, but clarified the situation surrounding the injury yesterday, saying that she suffered a fractured left wrist after falling during a run near her aunt's house in California earlier this year.

She said she also is suffering from tendinitis in her right wrist.

"I was running, which is stupid. People know me, I can't run at all," Wie said. "I never experienced anything like my left [wrist] injury. It was purely accidental and it was very unfortunate. I'm not 100 percent right now, and I'm trying to work through it.

"I'm not 100 percent strong. I haven't played for a long time. So I'm still trying to get back into it. I lost a lot of distance. I lost a lot of clubhead speed, but I'm working at it. I gained a lot of love over the last couple of months and I'm super-excited to be back out here."

Wie's decision last week wasn't the only controversy swirling around her yesterday. An LPGA spokeswoman confirmed that commissioner Carolyn Bivens met with Wie after receiving complaints from Wie's pro-am partners about her lack of interaction with them during Monday's round.

Bivens was unavailable to comment.

"I think it's ridiculous to make any false accusations about me," Wie said. "I didn't play too great, so maybe they complained about not winning. I thought it was very insulting. I just hope that she [Bivens] gets better information."