Season coming full circle for Wie
Michelle Wie will end her 2006 competitive season this week the way she started it: playing against men. And of the five years she has been taking on professionals, this is by far the most difficult to judge, in part because it was her first full year as a pro, and in part because she appeared to take steps both forward and backward.
After six consecutive rounds against the men in which she has failed to break 75 and has averaged 77.8, Wie will tee it up at the Casio World Open in Japan with an increasing number of people wondering if it is time for the talented teen to start focusing on beating women and table taking on the men for later in her career. The Wies, however, appear to be nowhere near abandoning their strategy and they have this simple fact to bolster their argument: Michelle is still only 17 years old.
The 2006 season was an odd one for Wie as she appeared to improve her efforts against the women and regress against the men, and fell off significantly against both in the second half of the season. The explanation could be as simple as the fatigue that accompanies the first full year as a professional, or as complicated as an eroding level of confidence after going more than three years without a victory.
The Casio World Open will be Wie's 15th tournament this year: Eight on the LPGA, three on the PGA Tour, one each on the men's Asian Tour, Japan PGA and European Tour. She also played a 36-hole qualifier for the men's U.S. Open after making it through local qualifying. In her first six LPGA events, which included three major championships, Wie never finished worse than fifth, finishing tied for second at the Evian Masters on July 29.
Wie contended in the McDonald's LPGA Championship -- a women's major -- later that week, but once again stumbled down the stretch, missing the 16th green from inside 100 yards in the final round and following that with makeable misses on the final two holes to finish tied for fifth. In her last two LPGA events -- the Weetabix Women's British Open and the Samsung World Championship -- Wie failed to break par in any of the eight rounds, averaging 73.37.
Even more dramatically, in her last six rounds against the men before this week's Casio World Open, Wie had rounds of 75, 77, 78, 79, 77 and 81 for an average of 77.8. At the John Deere Classic, she withdrew after nine holes of the second round and was briefly hospitalized with heat exhaustion. This week's stop at the Casio in Japan is Wie's 12th competition in a men's event on six different tours: PGA, European, Japanese, Asian, Canadian and Nationwide. She has made one cut, earlier this year in Korea on the Asian Tour.
Asked why they are continuing to pursue men's events, the Wie camp points toward Michelle's dream of one day playing in the Masters and her aspirations to become a PGA Tour member. All along, Wie's role model has been Tiger Woods and not Annika Sorenstam. There is some comfort to be found in comparing where Wie stands at this stage of her career in competition against the men compared to Woods when he was a teenager.
In the six PGA Tour events Wie has played between the ages of 14 and 16 (she turned 17 on Oct. 11), she has had a stroke average of 73.82. Woods played seven PGA Tour events between the ages of 16 and 18 (his birthday is Dec. 30) with a scoring average of 74.93 -- 1.11 strokes per round higher than Wie. Woods was 0-for-7 in cuts made on the PGA Tour and Wie is 0-for-6. Clearly, at a younger age Michelle is performing slightly better in PGA Tour events than Tiger did.
Those looking for a flaw in this reasoning would point to two things. First, male players mature physically at a later age than females. Secondly, at the same time Woods was playing in a few PGA Tour events, he was winning every title available to him in amateur golf. Between the ages of 15 and 17, Woods won three consecutive U.S. Amateur championships. Wie's lone victory was in the 2003 U.S. Women's Public Links Championship.
In all likelihood, Wie will play a schedule in 2007 very similar to the one she played this year. Unless she petitions the LPGA for membership and an exception to the 18-year-old minimum age (which would almost certainly be granted), Wie will once again be limited to eight events on the women's tour next year. And even though she did not come close to making a cut on the PGA Tour this year, Wie remains a gate attraction and will likely have no trouble getting more sponsor invitations into men's events.
What remains to be seen is how long Wie will continue to generate media and fan attention for second-tier men's events if she continues to miss cuts. More interestingly will be how much interest Wie will generate after she makes a cut -- and it is the opinion here that the question of her making a PGA Tour cut is a matter of when, not if. Will the buzz be just a one-time thing? Will the public be satisfied with a series of T-37 finishes, or will she need to contend to maintain interest?
This much is clear: like Woods, Wie is a special talent. This much is also clear: she is a pioneer following an unusual and uncharted path. And anytime an individual marches to a different drum beat, they open themselves up for constant scrutiny and criticism. Exactly how this will all play out only time will tell, but the one thing Michelle Wie has on her side is time.
The bottom line in any evaluation of Wie has to begin and end with this simple fact: She is only 17 years old. Even if she does not gain the strength to compete on the PGA Tour for another 10 years, she will still only be 27. It is far too early to guess where the Wie career will end up, but the unusual path she has chosen -- and the stumbles she has had this year -- invite second-guessing not about the desired end but rather the chosen means. One other thing is certain: whatever happens this week at the Casio World Open will provide ammunition for both Wie supporters and critics. Such is life in the spotlight.
Ron Sirak is the executive editor of Golf World magazine.
