In the rough and tumble world that is professional sports, Michelle Wie has seen her fair share at a tender age. The talk of all things golf at 16-years of age, Wie, given the nickname The Big Wiesy for the unmistakable similarity between her drive approach with that of Ernie Els, seems to be coming of age and fulfilling the expectations bestowed upon her as an adolescent teen.
Despite her past participation and admitted aspirations to continue to compete on the PGA Tour, Wie passed the LPGA Qualifying School in December 2008 by finishing 7th in Sectional and Qualifying tournaments, gaining LPGA membership for the 2009 season. Both praised as a golf prodigy and criticized for her attempts to compete on the PGA Tour, prior to establishing status in the women’s game, Wie has at long last won her first LPGA Tour event, the Lorena Ochoa Invitational, November 15, 2009, in Guadalajara, Mexico. Wie shot a thirteen under par 275 and narrowly beat out American Paula Creamer by two strokes for the victory.
Wie has indeed come a long way since becoming the youngest winner, male or female, of a United States Golf Association (USGA) sanctioned event at the age of thirteen, and has long lived in the public eye.
In 2003 she became the youngest player to make an LPGA cut, participating in the Kraft Nabisco Championship, and tied the amateur record for a women’s major championship shooting a 66 in the 3rd round.
The next year, Wie was granted a sponsor’s exemption to the Sony Open in Hawaii and in the process became the fourth and youngest female to play in a PGA Tour event. Her performance in the second round of the tournament earned her the distinction of shooting the lowest round by a woman in a PGA Tour event, a 68, though she would eventually miss the cut.
On October 5, 2005, Wie, then a 15-year-old amateur golfer declared she would be teaming with sponsors Nike and Sony and entering the professional ranks. Later that month she would participate in her first professional event, the LPGA Samsung World Championship, where a scorecard mishap disqualified her from a fourth place finish.
Throughout her career Wie has competed in 81 professional tournaments, 65 of which have occurred on the LPGA tour. As a member of the LPGA tour in 2009, Wie has participated in 18 tournaments, made the cut in 17, and 8 times has placed in the top ten.
How do you feel Michelle Wie is impacting golf, both at the men’s and women’s ranks? Do you feel she is fulfilling her destiny as a golf prodigy? How do you think Wie stacks up to other Korean female golfers?
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