JES II, Ken:
Gents, wake up to some clear realities.
LPGA Commissioner Bivens would not want to be seen by the rank-and-file players to be cowtowing beyond what was obviously done in other clear instances (e.g. the extension of an exemption as an amateur to the LPGA Championship, is but just one clear example).
No doubt the people running the LPGA Tour wanted Wie from early on but the repercussions of looking like a second fiddle (should she could decline which was likely) or if she had accepted by having to knuckle under to any demands Team Wie would have made regarding such membership would have caused plenty of fallout from a host of directions.
There was plenty of envy / jealousy to start with concerning Wie's early successes and how the other players got pushed aside. Those feelings simply intensified with all the falling overthemselves responses and actions the LPGA Tour has done with Michelle. You can see the escalation of those comments from a host of players starting with Annika and working themselves through other top tier competitors.
Ken:
Irrespective of whether it's mom, dad, Michelle or IMG -- the simple fact is that the ultimate objective of Team Wie was to play the free-lance card -- cherry pick off events (whether men or women) and go from there. The small problem arose when Michelle's play tailed off dramatically. There's still marquee value for her but she needs to reignite the flames with some victories. You can market hype for quite some time -- but ultimately wins are needed to show that the hype is not some PR / Mktg campaign alone.
LPGA membership was not the first card of choice for Team Wie. It was nothing more than a back-up option but now that original assessment has changed because without it Michelle Wie is more oddity than stellar golfer.