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OK, how do I put this delicately?
Does Michelle Wie care about winning anything in golf? Or does she just like to “break barriers” and “create sensations?”
I ask this, as a legitimate question, not as a knock on the phenomenal teenager from Honolulu.
Because I hate to remind everybody, but she really hasn’t won anything of note in her post-kiddie career. The vaunted 2003 Women’s Amateur Publinx remains her lone victory since she was 13 years old.
That’s a pretty long drought for any golfer to endure without holding up a trophy and smiling for the cameras.
Sure. Fine. She’s had some great finishes on the LPGA Tour. Some seconds and thirds. Went into the last round at the Women’s U.S. Open tied for the lead.
But the gulf between winning and not-winning is a longer carry than a 3-wood across the Grand Canyon. Tiger Woods did the exact opposite of Wie coming up the ranks. At almost every step.
Played US Amateurs and won them. When he didn’t dominate, he learned to rally. When he had a tournament in his grasp, he learned to close. He played in college and made some friends.
Then, finally, when it was time, he turned himself loose on the pros.
Even though Wie’s run at the men’s U.S. Open on Monday will be called “impressive” by some, let me call it something else.
A choke.
Yeah, you heard me. C-H-O-K-E.
What do you call it when a player who was rock solid good all day, suddenly gaks a two-footer for par and then bogies her way into the clubhouse to miss the cut?
“But she’s only 16.”
“But she’s playing against men.”
“But look at all the Tour pros she beat.”
“But look at how long she hits it.”
“But look at all the media pressure.”
But she choked. Admit it. Her talent level is scary good enough to compete with the men. Her mental level is not. How come I get branded the clubhouse jerk for just being honest?
And if you look back at Michelle’s career, she’s now got a growing resume of these chokes that can’t be good for her future.
2004 US Women’s Publinx
Michelle loses in final to Ya-Ni Tseng of Taipei. Wie had a 4-up lead in the first 18, but gives away the lead with a series of miscues. Still, Wie is 1-up on the 34th Hole when she misses a 3 footer. All square on the 36th hole, Wie loses when both were in bunkers near the green, and Wie’s shot came up 35 feet short. Tseng made her 12 footer for the win.
2004 Women’s Amateur
Michelle Wie gets bounced unceremoniously well before the 36 hole final by the “great” In-Bee Park. Wie had a 2-up lead through 15 holes, and then collapsed. Park birdied 16, then Wie bogeyed 17. On 18, Wie three-putted from 15 feet, as Park two-putted from 60. C-H-O-K-E.
2005 Women’s Open at Cherry Hills
Wie is tied for the lead going into Sunday’s final round and balloons to an 82 looking lost amid the pressure. No need for footnotes on this one.
2005 Women’s Amateur
Wie decides to skip the Amateur, because she instead wants to play the Women’s British Open. The logic for Team Wie is simple. If she doesn’t do well at the British, there are plenty of alibis. Jet-lag, unfamiliarity with links courses, etc. etc. If she does great, bonus! Everyone ooohs and aaahs. However, if she gets run in the US AM again, then doubt sets in about her “greatness.” Smart move. Wie finishes 3rd at British, while Morgan Pressel wins US AM. Pressel publicly laments that she didn’t have a chance to beat Wie head to head.
2005 Men’s Amateur Publinx
Makes a run to the quarterfinals before getting waxed by Clay Ogden of BYU. Ogden comes out smokin’, with a slew of birdies. Said Wie: “It's hard to beat birdies. It wasn't like I was playing bad. I was losing with a lot of pars. He played really great.'' REACT: Yes, dear. Birdies are tough to beat. Great players know how to make a lot of them, especially in match play.
2005 John Deere Classic
Needs just 4 pars coming in to make the cut and play the weekend. Instead, backs it up with a double bogey and bogey coming home, and misses cut by two. Again, it’s a choke folks, no matter how old she is, or which bathroom she uses.
2006 Nabisco Dinah Shore
Wie comes to the 18th, tied for the lead. She gets home on the par-5 in two, her ball rolling just off the back fringe. She’s got an almost no-brainer two-putt from fringe for birdie and playoff, but instead chips it 12 feet past the hole. Misses putt. Once again, people. That’s a choke.
The fact that Wie is only 16 and has a huge Nike contract, and will no doubt win a lot of LPGA events in her lifetime, does not trump the fact that she has no idea how to close in golf, and is developing a nasty habit of eating grip leather down the stretch.
Go ahead, attack me for saying all this. Call me a Wie-hater. I’m not. I actually want to see her succeed. Excuse me for having an opinion that this route is actually hurting her progress, not helping it.
Had Wie spent a little more time and focus trying to WIN a few Women’s Amateurs, I bet she would have been much better prepared mentally to close the deal at Canoe Brook on Monday and then shock the world with a berth into the Big Boy Open.
It’s all about the right challenges at the right time, and this talented young lady is going about it all backward. Her ball striking ability wasn’t going anywhere between the ages of 13 and 17, so what was the rush?
OK, how do I put this delicately?
Does Michelle Wie care about winning anything in golf? Or does she just like to “break barriers” and “create sensations?”
I ask this, as a legitimate question, not as a knock on the phenomenal teenager from Honolulu.
Because I hate to remind everybody, but she really hasn’t won anything of note in her post-kiddie career. The vaunted 2003 Women’s Amateur Publinx remains her lone victory since she was 13 years old.
That’s a pretty long drought for any golfer to endure without holding up a trophy and smiling for the cameras.
Sure. Fine. She’s had some great finishes on the LPGA Tour. Some seconds and thirds. Went into the last round at the Women’s U.S. Open tied for the lead.
But the gulf between winning and not-winning is a longer carry than a 3-wood across the Grand Canyon. Tiger Woods did the exact opposite of Wie coming up the ranks. At almost every step.
Played US Amateurs and won them. When he didn’t dominate, he learned to rally. When he had a tournament in his grasp, he learned to close. He played in college and made some friends.
Then, finally, when it was time, he turned himself loose on the pros.
Even though Wie’s run at the men’s U.S. Open on Monday will be called “impressive” by some, let me call it something else.
A choke.
Yeah, you heard me. C-H-O-K-E.
What do you call it when a player who was rock solid good all day, suddenly gaks a two-footer for par and then bogies her way into the clubhouse to miss the cut?
“But she’s only 16.”
“But she’s playing against men.”
“But look at all the Tour pros she beat.”
“But look at how long she hits it.”
“But look at all the media pressure.”
But she choked. Admit it. Her talent level is scary good enough to compete with the men. Her mental level is not. How come I get branded the clubhouse jerk for just being honest?
And if you look back at Michelle’s career, she’s now got a growing resume of these chokes that can’t be good for her future.
2004 US Women’s Publinx
Michelle loses in final to Ya-Ni Tseng of Taipei. Wie had a 4-up lead in the first 18, but gives away the lead with a series of miscues. Still, Wie is 1-up on the 34th Hole when she misses a 3 footer. All square on the 36th hole, Wie loses when both were in bunkers near the green, and Wie’s shot came up 35 feet short. Tseng made her 12 footer for the win.
2004 Women’s Amateur
Michelle Wie gets bounced unceremoniously well before the 36 hole final by the “great” In-Bee Park. Wie had a 2-up lead through 15 holes, and then collapsed. Park birdied 16, then Wie bogeyed 17. On 18, Wie three-putted from 15 feet, as Park two-putted from 60. C-H-O-K-E.
2005 Women’s Open at Cherry Hills
Wie is tied for the lead going into Sunday’s final round and balloons to an 82 looking lost amid the pressure. No need for footnotes on this one.
2005 Women’s Amateur
Wie decides to skip the Amateur, because she instead wants to play the Women’s British Open. The logic for Team Wie is simple. If she doesn’t do well at the British, there are plenty of alibis. Jet-lag, unfamiliarity with links courses, etc. etc. If she does great, bonus! Everyone ooohs and aaahs. However, if she gets run in the US AM again, then doubt sets in about her “greatness.” Smart move. Wie finishes 3rd at British, while Morgan Pressel wins US AM. Pressel publicly laments that she didn’t have a chance to beat Wie head to head.
2005 Men’s Amateur Publinx
Makes a run to the quarterfinals before getting waxed by Clay Ogden of BYU. Ogden comes out smokin’, with a slew of birdies. Said Wie: “It's hard to beat birdies. It wasn't like I was playing bad. I was losing with a lot of pars. He played really great.'' REACT: Yes, dear. Birdies are tough to beat. Great players know how to make a lot of them, especially in match play.
2005 John Deere Classic
Needs just 4 pars coming in to make the cut and play the weekend. Instead, backs it up with a double bogey and bogey coming home, and misses cut by two. Again, it’s a choke folks, no matter how old she is, or which bathroom she uses.
2006 Nabisco Dinah Shore
Wie comes to the 18th, tied for the lead. She gets home on the par-5 in two, her ball rolling just off the back fringe. She’s got an almost no-brainer two-putt from fringe for birdie and playoff, but instead chips it 12 feet past the hole. Misses putt. Once again, people. That’s a choke.
The fact that Wie is only 16 and has a huge Nike contract, and will no doubt win a lot of LPGA events in her lifetime, does not trump the fact that she has no idea how to close in golf, and is developing a nasty habit of eating grip leather down the stretch.
Go ahead, attack me for saying all this. Call me a Wie-hater. I’m not. I actually want to see her succeed. Excuse me for having an opinion that this route is actually hurting her progress, not helping it.
Had Wie spent a little more time and focus trying to WIN a few Women’s Amateurs, I bet she would have been much better prepared mentally to close the deal at Canoe Brook on Monday and then shock the world with a berth into the Big Boy Open.
It’s all about the right challenges at the right time, and this talented young lady is going about it all backward. Her ball striking ability wasn’t going anywhere between the ages of 13 and 17, so what was the rush?
Steve is a native Washingtonian and has worked in sports talk radio for the last 11 years. He worked at WTEM in 1993 anchoring Team Tickers before he took a full time job with national radio network One-on-One Sports.
A graduate of UC Santa Barbara, Steve has worked for WFNZ in Charlotte where his afternoon show was named "Best Radio Show." Steve continues to serve as a sports personality for WLZR in Milwaukee and does fill-in hosting for Fox Sports Radio.
