Golf

Wie can laugh, but winning is serious

By Times Staff
Published June 28, 2005

Michelle Wie handled it Sunday like it was a minor setback with no repercussions.

She even managed to joke about the situation, saying that her golf ball simply did not know where to go during the final round of the U.S. Women's Open at Cherry Hills Country Club.

"I have to give my ball a GPS," said Wie, who played in the second-to-last group with eventual champion Birdie Kim . "It was lost. It was confused. I couldn't get things going."

Good for Wie. The emotional scars from her final-round performance appear to be minimal, if at all. She will learn from the experience and be better for it.

But ... you can't help but wonder.

Had Wie been more accustomed to winning, might she have handled the third-round lead better? Could she have become the youngest player to win a major championship?

This is an argument that has dogged Wie since she shunned junior golf and, for the most part, amateur golf in favor of competing in professional events. It is hard to argue with her success, as two weeks ago she finished second to Annika Sorenstam at the LPGA Championship and Sunday held a share of the lead heading into the final round before fading to a tie for 23rd.

And yet, how much pressure has Wie faced in these situations? Until Sunday, she never had a realistic chance of winning any of those pro events heading into the final round. Unless you consider making the cut pressure - and in the early events, it probably was - Wie has had nothing to play for but pride on the weekends of many of these tournaments.

Nobody expects her to win at age 15, and everybody marvels at her ability to play at such a high level. She hits the ball a mile, but has become more than a curiosity. She has proved she can play. But with no paycheck on the line, what is the difference between fifth or 10th? How does she learn to play with the immense pressure of a tournament title on the line? Or needing to make a putt that could mean the difference of $100,000?

Many observers, from Tiger Woods to Nancy Lopez , have questioned Wie's approach. Woods dominated at the junior and amateur levels and played only a smattering of PGA Tour events before turning pro. Lopez, the LPGA Hall of Famer, used the example of Paula Creamer , 18, who dominated the American Junior Golf Association, winning more then a dozen titles. Last month, she captured her first LPGA Tour title.

Wie's coach, David Leadbetter , scoffs at the notion that playing against pros is hurting Wie, that she should beat her peers. Maybe he's right. Maybe Wie is different. Maybe she turns pro next year and all of this is so much about nothing. She certainly is not going to return to the junior circuit, where she would likely make a mockery of the competition.

But it might not hurt Wie to concentrate a bit more on the prestigious amateur events and quit worrying, for now, about playing in PGA Tour events. At the amateur tournaments, Wie would be the prohibitive favorite. In match-play tournaments, her opponents would have the feeling of nothing to lose. Now that's pressure. And it will only help Wie in the future.

Next week, she plays in the PGA Tour's John Deere Classic, where the only pressure she faces will be self-imposed. Nobody expects her to make the cut, let alone contend for the tournament title. The following week, she plays in the U.S. Amateur Public Links. She became the first woman to qualify for the USGA event, but again, making it through 36 holes of stroke-play qualifying would be an achievement. To think that she would advance through six matches to win the title is unrealistic. She will be the underdog.

Then it's on to two more LPGA events, including the Women's British Open, where Wie competes in her fourth major championship of the year.

The best test of them all will be the following week, assuming she can get back from England to play in the U.S. Women's Amateur near Atlanta. There, she is expected to win, a feeling she needs to embrace and conquer more often.

And when she does, the Sunday 82s will be rare.

LPGA BACK IN FLORIDA: After five years without a full-field event in Florida, the LPGA Tour will return next April, officials announced Monday.

To be called the Ginn Clubs & Resorts Open, the 72-hole event will be played at the Reunion Resort near Orlando and offer a $2.5-million purse, one of the biggest in the women's game. Aside from the season-ending ADT Championship for the top 30 players in West Palm Beach, the LPGA has not had a regular event in Florida since 2001.

[Last modified June 28, 2005, 01:47:08]