Michelle Wie Blog

Well it’s been an interesting first year by Michelle Wie as a professional golfer.  One thing you cannot say is that she didn’t fail to get in the news.  From her various penalty strokes, to firing her caddie, to her $10 million in endorsements Michelle managed to stay in the golf world’s public eye for most of the season.  Michelle Wie bashing even became a hobby, if not a sport, for many bloggers and writers.

What will next season bring for Michelle Wie Inc.? Hopefully a trophy or two. But as much pressure as we put on Michelle to win, she really didn’t do too bad.  She tied for third at the women’s U.S. Open, tied for fifth at the LPGA championship, tied for third at the Kraft Nabisco, and ended up a dismal tied for 26th Place at the women’s British Open.  But more than a handful of tournaments saw Michelle in the hunt until a bad round put her out.  Granted, top five finishes don’t make you a champion but was this season really that bad for a 16 year old?

What could be the most amazing thing is that Michelle has already made more money this year than most people do in a whole lifetime. She literally could retire after one season - without winning one trophy. Come October, we will head into the season number two.  As has been said before, once she does start winning we will grow tired of that as well.

You think you are having a bad day?  Try getting fired from your job without even a phone call – and from a 16 year old boss!  That’s exactly what happened to caddie Greg Johnstone, Michelle Wie’s caddie of late.  It seems the Wie Corp. didn’t even have the sense enough to call the guy to tell him his fate.  He got the axe at the airport by her agent.

Johnstone was Julie Inkster’s caddie for 11 years when Michelle came along and “stole him out from under her”, according to Inkster.  An ultimatum was made – either her or Me (Wie) and Johnstone chose to lug around clubs for the rising superstar kid from Hawaii..  At the time it probably seemed like a no-brainer for Johnstone.  After all, Michelle was supposed to be cleaning up on the circuit, winning tournaments right and left, while Inkster was in her mid-40’s, getting old and retiring at some point in the near future.  How things change hmmm?

[Greg’s] “departure comes as part of Michelle’s maturation as a golfer, part of which is learning from many different bright golf minds.”

What?  What the hell does that mean?  Don’t you just wish that Michelle would start at least looking like she is calling some shots?  She could have called Greg himself and just told him that she needed a change and that things just were not working the way she wanted them.  Much better approach than having the Wie machine handle it.  If she is mature enough as a golfer to play on PGA tour events, she should be mature enough to call her damn caddie and tell him he’s out.    Oh, wait, she’s only 16.