Michelle Wie Blog

Annika Sorenstam is not holding back on the topic of Michelle Wie and why she would choose to play with the men of the PGA this week rather than compete with the LPGA at the Women’s British Open.

Thursday begins Annika’s final Women’s British Open before retirement. Sorenstam believes the 18-year-old Wie, who will be in action in Reno, Nevada, this week, is not doing herself (anyone else) any favors by playing against the men. Michelle has slipped in the women’s rankings to number 299.

Sorenstam has some credibility on the subject. After all, she was the World’s No 1 women golfer in May 2003 when she became the first woman in 53 years to play on the US men’s tour.

Although she narrowly missed the cut, the now 37-year-old Sorenstam described her two rounds in the Colonial Tournament in Fort Worth, Texas, as “a wonderful experience”. However, she never felt the need to do anything similar again.

Annika remarked, “I really don’t know why Michelle is continuing to do this. I mean, we have a major this week and if you can’t qualify for a major, I don’t see any reason why you should play with the men.”

Michelle was not granted an exemption for Sunningdale, although she did have a chance of qualifying at the State Farm Classic, an LPGA Tour event in Springfield, Illinois, 11 days ago. True to Wie form, she was one shot off the lead after three rounds, then was disqualified for not having signed her second-round scorecard until after she had left the recording area.

Wie opted against entering any further qualifying event for the British Open. Because she was not granted an exemption, she chose to go to Reno to compete against the men instead.

These exemptions are getting old. Unless Michelle starts to compete and win, the exemptions will soon dry up. She has got to learn to first, sign her scorecard correctly, then start winning on the LPGA without exemptions. She is not the cute 13 wunderkind any more. And the ladies of the LPGA are getting pretty darn weary of the whole thing.

Put your ear to the ground and you can probably hear the grumbling from the LPGA locker room regarding the latest Michelle Wie newsflash - she will be competing against the men on the PGA tour - AGAIN.

Wie made the decision just days after being disqualified from an LPGA tournament for not signing her scorecard before leaving the scoring tent.

Granted, Michelle was playing pretty good last weekend, just off the lead when the mishap occurred - but she hasn’t been tearing up the LPGA to warrant teeing it up with the men, that’s for sure.

Michelle has yet to make the cut on the men’s tour - after 8 tries. But as usual, Michelle has a positive outlook on the whole thing saying, “It’s not every day that woman is give the opportunity to play on the greatest Tour in the world. This is a tremendous opportunity for me to learn from these great players and take those lessons into the future to becoming the best player I can be on any tour. This is another step in the process of making me a better player.”

You’ve got to hand it to Michelle though. She keeps putting herself out there and grinding away for that first win - on any tour.

One has to wonder if she ends up in Qualifying School if the exemptions will continue to roll in next year.

Ok…the first rule they should teach when you make the LPGA tour is: sign your scorecard after the round! Sounds easy, right? So easy that any first grader could accomplish it.

Michelle Wie failed to follow that seemingly simple rule on Saturday after finishing in 2nd place - with one good round away from possibly winning her first tournament.

Just minutes after tapping in her last putt of the third round, Wie sat red-eyed at a folding table in front of baffled reporters and photographers, explaining why she’d been disqualified from the tournament.

Players must sign their scorecards before leaving the scoring area.

“I don’t know why or how it happened,” Wie said.

Apparantly her parents have not taught the youngster the most basic aspects of the game. Rather than negotiate a $20 million contract from Nike, they should have been taking care of other business - like what to do after you complete a round!

After the serious gaff in etiquette, Michelle simply climbed into an SUV with her parents and drove away.

Sue Witters, the LPGA’s director of tournament competitions, disqualified Wie in a small office in an LPGA trailer at the course after asking her what had happened.
“She was like a little kid after you tell them there’s no Santa Claus,” Witters said.
Wie told reporters that after she finished her round Friday, she left the tent just above the ninth green where players sign their scorecards. She was chased down by volunteers working in the tent, who pointed out she hadn’t signed.
Wie returned to the tent and signed the card, and “I thought it would be OK,” she said.

But Wie, according to Witters, had already walked outside the roped-off area around the tent. At that point, the mistake was final, Witters said.

Witters said she and other tour officials didn’t learn about the mistake from volunteers until well after Wie teed off yesterday morning, so they let her finish the round.

So the Michelle Wie saga continues. In fact, there has been no one on the LPGA tour to have such a sad saga for so long. Once again, Michelle has destroyed her own chances of living up to her incredible potential. We only wish it was not by such stupid means.