Golf

Wie turns pro, contributes $500,000

With some $10-million in endorsement deals with Nike and Sony, she pledges the money for hurricane relief.

HONOLULU - Michelle Wie, the Hawaii teen who has been competing against golf's best players since she was in the seventh grade, turned professional Wednesday. Her first act as a pro was to share some of the estimated $10-million in yearly endorsement deals she has signed with Nike and Sony. Wie pledged $500,000 to the U.S. Golf Hurricane Relief Fund, set up by the major golf organizations.

"I'm finally happy to say I'm a pro starting today," Wie said, wearing a pink Nike shirt and high heels that made her look even taller than her 6 feet. "The first time I grabbed a golf club I knew I'd do it for the rest of my life. Some 12 years later I'm finally turning pro, and I'm so excited."

The splashy announcement was hardly a surprise. It had been reported for weeks that she would go pro by her 16th birthday next week.

She made the announcement at the Kahala Mandarin Oriental Hotel, next to the 10th fairway at Waialae Country Club where, at age 13, she shot 68 in the Sony Open, the lowest score ever by a female competing on the men's tour.

Lest anyone think she was skipping class on this special day, Wie said she planned to join her junior classmates at the private Punahou School in time for "Japanese or drawing, depending on how long this thing lasts."

Wie will make her professional debut next week on the LPGA Tour at the Samsung World Championship, an 18-player field at Bighorn Golf Club in the California desert. She also will play in the Casio World Open in Japan the week of Thanksgiving, her sixth time competing against men.

She has yet to make the cut against men, but has more than held her own on the LPGA Tour.

Wie was runnerup at the LPGA Championship to Annika Sorenstam, and tied for third at the Women's British Open. She has made the cut in her last 16 LPGA events dating to 2003, and would have earned about $640,870 on the tour had she not been an amateur. That would put her 13th on the money list in only seven starts.

She isn't expected to join the LPGA Tour until she turns 18, but can play as many as eight tour events each of the next two years. Wie likely will play a couple of other times on the PGA Tour, and on men's tours overseas.

Her path is different from that of Tiger Woods, who dominated amateur play before turning pro at age 20.

Wie chose to play the best competition she could find. At age 12 she qualified for the LPGA Tour's Takefuji Classic in Hawaii and missed the cut. Her only significant title was the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links, which she won at age 13.

"When I was 16, I wasn't even thinking about turning pro," Woods said. "I was just hoping to get into college somewhere. She has a talent, and has been good enough to make a giant step like that."

Wie will be represented by William Morris. Her agent is Ross Berlin, who formerly worked for the PGA Tour.

[Last modified October 6, 2005, 01:14:18]