Berlin out, Nared in as Wie's agent
Ross Berlin, who has represented Michelle Wie for the William Morris Agency since she turned professional in October 2005, has left the talented teen to return to the PGA Tour and will be replaced by Greg Nared, who led Nike's recruitment of Wie for their $20 million endorsement deal.
The moves come at the end of an eventful first year as a pro for Wie in which she displayed significant improvement in LPGA events but ended up in a hospital emergency room in one tournament against men and finished last in two others. In August, she fired her caddie, Greg Johnston, and has used two different caddies since.
He said he could not discuss the details of his new job.
"I'm Michelle's biggest fan, and that's not going to change," he said. "She's a wonderful person and an immense talent. I enjoyed every minute of what was little more than a year."
Berlin was a vice president in charge of title sponsor relations when he left the PGA Tour to join William Morris and handle the Wie account.
Berlin was not with Wie at the Samsung World Championship last week, the LPGA event where she made her professional debut as a 16-year-old in 2005 and finished fourth only to be disqualified because she had taken an improper penalty drop and then signed an incorrect scorecard. Management duties for Wie at the Samsung this year were handled by Jill Smoller, also of the William Morris Agency, with Nared taking a curiously prominent role that foreshadowed his new position. Wie, who turned 17 on Oct. 11, has a five-year deal with Nike, as well as lucrative contracts with Sony and watchmaker Omega.
"We are excited today to announce that Greg Nared will join the Michelle Wie Team at the William Morris Agency as Vice President, Golf Division, becoming a member of a unit headed by WMA President David Wirtschafter, Senior Vice President Jill Smoller, and Vice President Philip Button," a spokesman for the Wie family said in a statement. "At the same time, we are sad to see Ross Berlin, who preceded Greg in his position, leave to pursue a great opportunity with the PGA Tour. Ross was a trusted and valuable member of our team."
Nared, a former basketball player at the University of Maryland, had been with Nike for 15 years, most recently as special projects manager for the Nike U.S. sports marketing division. Before that, he served as Nike's business affairs manager for Tiger Woods during the first eight years of Woods' career.
"I've been at Nike 15 years and this company has been very good to me. It's difficult to leave," Nared told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "The Wie family, I've known for three years, and I feel very comfortable with them. What I've done over the last 15 years is help develop and mold athletes. This is a situation that will be no different."
Wie's first full professional season started strong as she finished in the top five in her first half-dozen LPGA events, including a tie for third at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, a tie for fifth at the McDonald's LPGA Championship and a tie for third in the U.S. Women's Open. She struggled at the Weetabix Women's British Open, finishing T-26, and was 17th in a 20-woman field last week at the Samsung. In between, she finished last in the Omega European Masters and the 84 Lumber Classic, both men's events.
Berlin was placed in the awkward position of firing Wie's caddie at the gate at Manchester Airport in August as the two were waiting to board flights home after the Women's British Open, prompting Johnston to say, "I was extremely disappointed that no one named Wie gave me the news."
Andrew Lano, who worked at one time for Kenny Perry, was Wie's caddie in her two last-place finishes; Fanny Sunesson, best-known as Nick Faldo's caddie, carried the bag at the Samsung tournament.
Wie's last tournament of the year will be the Casio World Open on the men's tour in Japan next month. She would be eligible for LPGA membership based on the more than $720,000 she won in eight tour events this year, but she needs to petition for membership and ask for an exception to the 18-year-old minimum age requirement before the end of the year in order to get her playing card for 2007. The LPGA would almost certainly grant such a request, but the Wies have displayed no interest in having Michelle join the LPGA, opting instead to play a schedule that, this year, will include six different tours involving appearance fees of as much as $1.5 million for a single event.
"Michelle is so happy," B.J. Wie, Michelle's father, told AP. "We spent three years together at Nike [with Nared]."
Ron Sirak is the Executive Editor of Golf World magazine.
