By Lawrence Henry on 9.15.06 @ 12:06AM
Cashing in on talent before its time.
This week, 16-year-old golfing phenom Michelle Wie will play in
the 84 Lumber Classic, a regular tournament on the men's PGA Tour.
Wie, a stunningly beautiful six-foot-one Korean American with a
swing that rivals Tiger Woods' for power and sophistication, has
entered a number of men's tournaments. She made the cut at the SK
Telecom Open on the Asian Tour, the second woman, after Se Ri Pak,
to do so. She has not made the cut in any U.S. men's event.
Most recently, Wie entered the Omega European Masters
tournament, a European men's event in Crans-Montana, Switzerland.
She missed the cut, shooting 15 over par for the first two rounds.
Last year, at the John Deere Classic, Wie, who was at the time 10
strokes over the projected cut line, withdrew in the second round
with heat exhaustion.
The Ladies' PGA Tour (LPGA) prohibits full-time membership for
golfers under 18. Wie has nonetheless played in a number of LPGA
events, where she has often finished in the top five, but has not
won.
LPGA SUPERSTAR ANNIKA SORENSTAM made headlines when she entered the
2003 Bank of America Colonial tournament. Sorenstam, like Wie in
her men's tour tries, missed the cut at Colonial. But oh, the hype
did fly. And the agreed-upon story line took control fast. No
criticism allowed. No questioning. Sorenstam's appearance was
nothing if not totally heroic and special. PGA Tour member Vijay
Singh said the obvious: "She doesn't belong out here. If I'm drawn
with her, which I won't be, I'll withdraw." He was drawn and
quartered in the press. On Thursday and Friday, TV coverage
concentrated on Annika as though she were leading the event.
Nick Price, who somehow escaped press opprobrium (he's a bit
over the hill, unlike Singh, one of the Tour's leading money
winners), called Sorenstam's appearance "a publicity stunt." Of
course it was. It works. Sorenstam drew the biggest crowds of the
first two days and bumped up ticket sales. Wie's appearances do the
same, which means tournament sponsors -- who grant the special
invites that allow women to play -- make more money. In the case of
Wie, that can mean a lot more money, because her appearance ties in
to more than just ticket sales. Wie already has a number of
lucrative endorsement deals. Youth and beauty sell.
A WOMAN CAN QUALIFY FOR some men's golf events. The U.S. Open is
just that, an open tournament. Michelle Wie won medalist honors in
the 2006 qualifying tournament's first round, but was eliminated in
the second round. A woman can enter the U.S. Public Links
championship. PGA teaching pro Suzy Whaley won the 2003 Connecticut
sectional tournament for the PGA (not the PGA Tour; the PGA is the
club pros' organization). That earned her a spot in the Greater
Hartford Open that year. She missed the cut.
But Wie mostly disdains such pedestrian routes to...what? It is
all best understood as show business. When Wie turned pro, she
signed with the William Morris Agency (WMA). William Morris has
represented pro athletes. Pete Sampras just left. Serena Williams
has used her Morris representation to land TV roles. But WMA is
best known shilling talents like Clint Eastwood, Dick Van Dyke, and
John Travolta. Its Hollywood roots go way back, to Charlie
Chaplin.
You can't lay all the blame on some cold fish Hollywood agent.
Michelle's parents have maintained a relationship on her behalf
with WMA for years, ESPN's John Hawkins reported. They appear to
know exactly what they're doing.
So far, she has not won anything. She aims, apparently, for a
different kind of success, since her chances of winning a men's
tournament are slim indeed. She has come close to winning on the
women's tour, but so far, no trophy.
For now, watching Michelle Wie swing around a golf course in her
designer sunglasses and leggy miniskirts seems to be enough. But it
won't always be. She could win a women's event, or more than one,
and start a real golfing career. Or she could be golf's Anna
Kournikova, the most photographed beauty in tennis a while back,
who never won anything either.
Me, I wish she'd settle down to pay her dues by playing in
sponsor exemption events on the LPGA Tour, the way Tiger Woods
earned his place on the PGA Tour by playing late-season tourneys in
1996 and winning twice in a matter of months. Wie has unbelievable
abilities. But she needs seasoning to be a real pro. She putts
poorly, can't play well out of bunkers, and gets stymied with
unusual lies in the rough -- all problems that yield to experience.
If she gets that seasoning, she could be another Mickey Wright.
If she doesn't, the way it's going now, the whole Michelle Wie
phenomenon could turn out to be sport's version of the 1997 Demi
Moore stinker, "G.I. Jane."
topics:
Business, Hollywood
