This weekend I read this. I would love to meet her. Just so I could say I knew her when. I would venture a guess she will do great things with her life. Perhaps even in golf. And from the sound of things her love of golf is HER love of golf. There are no pushy parents standing behind her, making her get up early in the morning and head to the practice green. Quite the opposite. And did you read in the side quotes, where she got mad at her dad and threatened to run away? She was going to take her clubs and go live at the golf course. When they ask her what she wants to be when she grows up she says she wants to play on the LPGA tour. Oh, and be surgeon. Actually it sounds like she wants to be a surgeon first, and play a little tour golf on the side. But she is 8. And here’s the thing about 8 year olds, they get VERY passionate about things, for about 2 weeks. Then they move on to something else, and get VERY passionate about that. Granted it sounds like Elizabeth is different from most 8 year old girls. Most 8 year old girls are passionate about their favorite Hannah Montana song. And she is very good. So if I had to bet I would bet she will be a world class golfer before she turns sweet 16. But here’s the thing. If, in 6 months, she decided that golf was fun, but what she REALLY wanted to concentrate on was Irish Step Dancing ( you know, just to pull something out of thin air ), the golf pro would be very disappointed, but I think her parents would just shrug and say ‘Well, that’s Elizabeth. Better sell the clubs on e-bay and buy some ghillies.’ Because they seem to understand that a kid like Elizabeth is going to work hard to be the best at whatever she chooses to do, and their job is just to give her the chance, and keep it fun along the way.
And keep this in mind. In the Junior World Golf Tournament, she came in third. As good as she is, there are 2 other girls out there her age that are better.
This week GO#3 played in the junior tournament at the cc. ( Keep following me, I pull it all together in the end) His flight consisted of 11 and 12 year old boys. 5 of them. They played from the 2nd tees ( 1st tees are closest to the hole. I play from the 1st tees. Yes, this means those 11 and 12 year olds are better than me. Just another in the long list of things that prove I am getting old.). And those 11 and 12 year olds hit their drives an average of 200 yards. And these kids are just average. No super stars. They know the rules and play a mean game of golf, but once they walk off the course they turn back into boys. None of whom has any plans to become a PGA pro. In a year Elizabeth will be able to beat them. But will she be able to beat the boys her age, who are as passionate about golf as she is? The ones who were getting their parents up early to take them to the range? As good as she will probably be, I doubt it. At least not on a regular basis. Will she want to try? I would bet real money on it.
Annika Sorenstam is Elizabeth all grown up. ( Keep reading. It really will all come together.)
She is very, very, VERY good. She has won everything it is possible to win in women’s golf. Several times. She had absolutely nothing left to prove to any one. But herself. So when the offer came to play in a PGA tour event, with the men, she said yes. I would have too. She had practiced with, and played many rounds with, several of the tour players. Including Tiger. She knew how good she was, and how good they were. I bet she even won a few times. So wouldn’t you want to try? Just to see if you could do it? You’ve done everything else. It would be great to make the cut, but even if you didn’t, at least you’d tried the next step up. She gave it a good shot, with unbelievable grace and class, but she didn’t make the cut. Actually I would love to see her try again. There was a lot of pressure that first time. I think if she tried a few more times, so the pressure relaxed a little, she would not only make the cut, but would break the top 20. But maybe that’s just wishful thinking on my part. In any case, what with her upcoming retirement and all, obviously not gonna happen.
All of which brings us to Michelle Wie. ( See, told ya it would eventually all come together. ) Michelle is a former child phenom. In the official version of the story, she picked up a club at age 4, fell in love, and the rest is ( a very short ) history. In the un-official version it was a very pushy father who put that club in her hand, and he has been standing behind her ever since. Michelle played amazing golf as an amateur. She was the youngest player ever to make the cut in an LPGA event. In 2003 she won the Women’s Amateur Public Links tournament, and thus became the youngest person ever to win a USGA adult event. In 2004 she played in a PGA ( meaning men’s tour ) event on a sponsor’s exemption. She didn’t make the cut. In October of 2005, one week before her 16th birthday, she turned pro. The LPGA won’t accept players younger than 18, so she wasn’t eligible to officially join the tour. She played in tour events on sponsor’s exemptions. She did well, but she has never won anything. She is now 18, and could join the tour. But she would have to qualify, and she has shown no interest in doing that, and has played only a few tournaments on sponsor’s exemptions. Although she HAS played in qualifying tournaments for the PGA. She has played in several men’s tournaments since that first one, but has never made the cut. And now this week is the Women’s British Open. Michelle could have flown over a few weeks early, played in some qualifying tournaments and ( assuming she did well in them) played in the Open. Instead she accepted another sponsor’s exemption and is playing in a PGA event, the Reno-Tahoe open.
So, she has played her entire professional career on sponsor’s exemptions. She has never had to qualify. And in spite of her early amateur successes, she hasn’t been a star since she turned pro. And it seems she would rather compete with the men, even though she hasn’t yet proven she can compete with the women. If you Google ‘Michelle Wie’ you will see that there has been a lot of discussion around Michelle and her career choices. She has not exactly generated a lot of good will. Which is rather sad considering she is just 18. Let me be snarky here and state the somewhat obvious. Her father is running the show, and he is making decisions based on the money and publicity, and not what is in the best long term interests of his daughter.
And what do 11/12 year olds boys and Elizabeth Wang have to do with this? Michelle can’t compete with the current crop of PGA tour pros. And the ones coming up behind them, the ones that are Michelle’s age, the ones she should be hanging out with in college, are twice as good. When a 12 year old boy can hit 200 yards, and be considered average, Michelle, even with her 300 yard drives, playing against male golfers her own age, doesn’t stand a chance. And the girls coming up now are just as good as Michelle was, if not better. Michelle will be hard pressed just to compete with them. Some day there will be a few women who will be able to compete in a few tournaments a year with the men and regularly make the cut. Elizabeth Wang, or one of the two girls who finished ahead of her, might very well be one of them. But they will never be able to compete at the Masters, or US Open, level. Which is fine. They will still be excellent golfers, playing in their own tournaments which, as we have seen, can be just as exciting as the men’s. And they will inspire young girls, who will be better golfers still. Michelle is doing those future women golfers no favors by continually entering PGA events, and failing to make the cut. It just reinforces the idea that the women can’t compete with the men, and makes it that much harder for Elizabeth Wang to ever get the chance. Unlike Annika, Michelle still has a lot to prove, to every one. And she has generated some hard feelings along the way. Once she finally fades from the scene no one will be anxious to try challenging the status quo for awhile. Far from helping break the trail, Michelle will actually end up setting things back. It will probably be another generation before a woman will try her luck in a PGA event, for fear of becoming ‘the next Michelle Wie’. Which is too bad. Elizabeth Wang should be able to have competing in a PGA event, like Annika did, after accomplishing every thing she could on the LPGA, as an ultimate goal. Michelle may have ruined that for her already.
Who knows, I could be wrong ( stranger things have happened ). Michelle could tell her father to get lost, qualify her way onto the LPGA tour, win big, tackle the PGA again, and make a cut. There by improving Elizabeth’s chances. But I’m not willing to bet even fake money on that.
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