Semi-OT: Did Michelle Wie just save the LPGA?

[Phil McDade]

Paul:

Course is playing really difficult today, and she's only a stroke out of 3rd and still only four behind the leader. That's a course that in some ways is kind of like Pebble Beach -- you can make big numbers out there in a hurry, and if you limit your "bad" holes to bogeys, you'll be OK.

[PThomas]

Paul:

Course is playing really difficult today, and she's only a stroke out of 3rd and still only four behind the leader. That's a course that in some ways is kind of like Pebble Beach -- you can make big numbers out there in a hurry, and if you limit your "bad" holes to bogeys, you'll be OK.

they just said Mommy was out there right before her start while she was putting two footers

course is brutal...Creamer might sneak up as she is done already

[Matthew Rose]

they just said Mommy was out there right before her start while she was putting two footers

I guess that explains why she's +3 thru 7 holes.

[George Pazin]

I've always been amused by those who criticise her parents; I wonder how many have any clue what they are like or what their methods have been.

I guess we have to amend the old saying - it's no longer just hindsight that is 20/20, it's hearsay and speculation as well.

The wonders of self-esteemed based education...

[noonan]

Lexi's swing is painful to watch...I can't see her winning all that often.

Can these women play any slower..can they incorporate any more silly pre-shot nonsense into their routines?

Apparently you missed the Sportcenter special on her swing - it repeats very well

[Dan Herrmann]

George - You're probably right, but that's the impression I have of Wie's parents, having been to a couple LPGA tournaments.  They were omnipresent and seemed to dictate everything she did in terms of practice.  Granted, I could have totally misread things....  She's a very intelligent graduate of Stanford.  Let her be an adult. - I really, really want her to be happy and successful!

[Mike Benham]

She's a very intelligent graduate of Stanford.  Let her be an adult. - I really, really want her to be happy and successful!

One might question her intelligence if she is wearing the colors of Stanford's rival on national TV ...

[Phil McDade]

At least she has her degree from Stanford, as opposed to another well-known player who pays homage to a school he attended for a year with his final-round color-choice of a shirt.

[PThomas]

At least she has her degree from Stanford, as opposed to another well-known player who pays homage to a school he attended for a year with his final-round color-choice of a shirt.

ouch!

and re the parental influence, Pepper and Annika both said yesterday that they need to back off...Annika said she is working with Wie and "doing what she (Michelle) wants ", to paraphrase, is one of the things they are working on

[Patrick_Mucci]

One has to wonder if she would be happier and more successful on tour had she been allowed to be a kid, gone to high school, then college, competing as an amateur, then turned Pro after college.

In a sense, she was deprived of her childhood.

[Wade Whitehead]

Pat Mucci: I've always wondered what effect not winning has had on Ms. Wie.  Aside from the US Women's Public Links, which she won at 13, she was competing in events "too hard" for her at the time.  She never learned to dominate, and could have, if she'd played more junior/college/women's amateur events.

WW

[PThomas]

that course is brutal all the way around, greens included...and they played it at 6900 yds I think!

[Phil McDade]

that course is brutal all the way around, greens included...and they played it at 6900 yds I think!

With not much wind of note, save for maybe the 3rd day. When that place gets windy, it can get really brutal.

[George Pazin]

Pat Mucci: I've always wondered what effect not winning has had on Ms. Wie.  Aside from the US Women's Public Links, which she won at 13, she was competing in events "too hard" for her at the time.  She never learned to dominate, and could have, if she'd played more junior/college/women's amateur events.

WW

Did Hogan learn to win by dominating early events? Seems to me he didn't win much till he was in his 30s. Wiesy doesn't win because she learned the wrong lessons from her time spent with the boys. She decided she needed to keep up with them, length-wise and ball-striking-wise, totally missing the fact that their short games were far beyond anything she or any other woman had. If she focused on scoring rather than striking, she would be killing everyone now.

But why should she be any different from 99% of us, who never learn the right lessons in anything?

----

Dan, is it inconceivable that her parents just want to watch their daughter? That maybe she asked them for their support? These same ogres were the ones that got her to unbelievable levels as a precocious early teen, no?

I recall one time when a friend commented less than favorably about my parenting to a friend of a friend, who related it to me. I laughed. Fast forward 5 years and she's divorced, running around in the clubs, while my life is nicely stable. Sometimes things aren't what they seem.

[Tommy Williamsen]

Michelle, should be congratulated for being able to graduate from a fine school while balancing a pro golf career.  Her golf has understandably suffered.  I hope she regains the form she had as a kid and learns to play with the abandon of a teen.  I only wish her well.

[Ronald Montesano]

Did you ever start a thread that you regretted starting, oh, about 18 hours later?

[Matthew Rose]

I made sure to watch her play the weekend rounds.

She has an absolutely beautiful swing, no doubt about it. It stands out. But...

Her short game is atrocious. She misses a green and it's an automatic bogey. At least it seemed that way during this tournament. To be fair, I did not see any of her 66, only most of her 78 and some of her 80.

Her course management isn't very good either. I saw her hit driver on a couple of the shorter holes which brought trouble into play she otherwise wouldn't have reached and had she pulled them off, she would have had a 60-70 yard shot instead of a 100 yard shot.

[Craig Sweet]

Yes, her short game is horrible...I think she needs to ditch Ledbetter, work with Paltz, and a good "shrink" on her mental approach.

[Phil McDade]

She's spent the last four years getting a degree from a not-run-of-the-mill-academically school. I think she just needs to play more golf. To shoot a 66 at Blackwolf Run at the US Open shows she has the game. That she went 78-80 on the weekend suggests pretty strongly she needs to play more.

I'd agree on the short game and course management arguments. She often compounds poor shots with poor decisions.

[Dan Herrmann]

Phil, so do I (many times), but like 99.5% of us, I pay to play golf - they don't pay me.   She needs to buck it up and achieve what she's capable of.  If she wants to, of course.   Lord knows she can have a wonderful life built on her excellent education.

[Anthony Butler]

She's spent the last four years getting a degree from a not-run-of-the-mill-academically school. I think she just needs to play more golf. To shoot a 66 at Blackwolf Run at the US Open shows she has the game. That she went 78-80 on the weekend suggests pretty strongly she needs to play more.

I'd agree on the short game and course management arguments. She often compounds poor shots with poor decisions.

She should hire a credentialled caddy from the PGA Tour and 86 Leadbetter.

Hire Butch Harmon who seems like he'd make minimal changes to her swing and instead give her some no-bullshit advice on what it takes to dominate as a professional.

[Phil McDade]

Phil, so do I (many times), but like 99.5% of us, I pay to play golf - they don't pay me.   She needs to buck it up and achieve what she's capable of.  If she wants to, of course.   Lord knows she can have a wonderful life built on her excellent education.

Dan -- Wie doesn't get paid to play golf. She earns whatever she makes through her performance in a given tournament. Sure, she makes endorsement money, but so does every golfer out there -- including the guy who won at Greenbrier this past week who I'd never heard of. I'm guessing her endorsement money is based on her past success and marketability, as it is for many players. For the past four years, she's been juggling a college education at Stanford and a golf career, which I'm guessing don't go hand-in-hand (as Tiger quickly figured out). She's working with Meg Mallon -- a pretty accomplished player -- on her putting, and my sense is that short-game skills are one of those things that develop with constant work and play (and by the same token, fall apart pretty quickly without it.) I actually think her decision to pursue a degree will help her out in the long run toward having a successful career. And she's got a long time ahead of her -- she's all of 23, and golfers like Cristie Kerr (herself something of a prodigy) didn't win her first major until she was 30.

[Jeff Shelman]

Phil,

While I think it is admirable that she finished a Stanford degree, I just think she's one of those people who can't putt at that level. I am of the believe that you either can putt or you can't putt. Sure you can get better, but I think you're born with much of it or your not.

This year, she is 141st in putts per GIR and 144th in putting average. Those, to me, are the key stats.

I don't like driving accuracy ranking (146th) or the GIR (103rd), but I think those numbers can be improved through work.

I'm just not sure she'll ever be a great putter. If she can get to being an above average putter, she'll win a lot.

I am surprised with her lack of success this year as she has missed more cuts than she's made.

[Phil McDade]

Jeff:

Sure, I'm not convinced either that putting is the strength of her game. It may very well be the difference between being one of the game's greats, on the level of Sorenstam, and being merely good.

But Johnny Miller wasn't much of a putter, and he won two majors and contended in a bunch of others, and had a fairly decent career. Draw up a short list of the best putters in the men's game in the past 25 years, and it's likely to include both Brad Faxon and Corey Pavin, who have one major between them.

But the reason I started the thread was to point out just how good Wie was -- under enormous pressure (her selection was criticized in many quarters) -- at the Solheim Cup a few years ago, and speculating on what that meant for her career, and the women's game in general. Maybe that week was a one-off -- her Orville Moody moment in the sun. All golfers can get hot for a few days, and some guy named Ted Potter Jr. can beat a field that includes Tiger, Mickelson, the reigning US Open and PGA champions, and a bunch of other major winners.

I think Wie has more natural talent at the game than nearly everyone else out there. Whether she can harness that into winning tournaments, and majors, is obviously the big question. I think she can.

[Garland Bayley]

She's spent the last four years getting a degree from a not-run-of-the-mill-academically school. I think she just needs to play more golf. To shoot a 66 at Blackwolf Run at the US Open shows she has the game. That she went 78-80 on the weekend suggests pretty strongly she needs to play more.

I'd agree on the short game and course management arguments. She often compounds poor shots with poor decisions.

With that logic, the world #1 needs to play more. Michelle beat Yani in this go around.