Michelle Wie Actually Signs Her Scorecard!
I've had a lot of my friends asking me about Michelle Wie after her recent scorecard debacle on the LPGA Tour. I decided to hold off until now, as I was actually sitting in the scoring trailer with Michelle last week at the PGA TOUR's Legends Reno-Tahoe Open.
Michelle was playing in her eighth PGA TOUR event, and after an opening 1-over par 73, everyone was abuzz about her making the cut. She came into my scoring area after the round, and after checking her hole-by-hole numbers and handing me the card, she proclaimed with a big smile, "Look, I actually signed my scorecard!"
She obviously was poking fun at herself, so I played along. "Good for you, Michelle! That's awesome!" I responded, and she laughed along with the other players in her group.
That moment told me a lot about Michelle, that despite all of the controversy and criticism surrounding her lately, she keeps a sense of humility and playfulness. There's a ton of pressure on that girl, and she does a great job maintaining her composure. I've dealt with Michelle at all of her PGA TOUR appearances, and each time she has been nothing but soft-spoken and kind.
That being said, I seriously doubted she was going to make the cut, even after her respectable score on Thursday. I didn't watch her round, but I spoke with her playing partners later and both agreed she was scrambling like crazy. Granted, she was playing in a stiff afternoon wind during round one, but she only had 24 total putts and yet still shot over par. That meant she needed to play MUCH better on Friday morning and post a number in the red just to make the cut. She hung in there for a little while the next day, but eventually crashed through the thin ice and made some big numbers on her way to an 80.
I know that Michelle's presence at a men's event is big time news for most, but I feel it tarnishes her reputation as a legitimate pro golfer and probably erodes her confidence, as well. She needs to play with the women, and start winning tournaments...period. I mean, if the appeal of women playing in PGA TOUR events is just to see if they can sneak under the cut line, then let's put some proven champions out there. Lorena Ochoa, Suzann Pettersen or Brittany Lincicome all come to mind as big-hitting ladies who actually have professional victories. Let's give them a shot. Michelle's had her chances, and she's 0 for 8.
I'm rooting for Michelle to do great things on the LPGA, mainly because she's too nice of a person to go down in history as a mismanaged underachiever. She's a great golfer, and as long as she keeps playing against the ladies, she'll start writing a new chapter for herself soon enough.
Michelle was playing in her eighth PGA TOUR event, and after an opening 1-over par 73, everyone was abuzz about her making the cut. She came into my scoring area after the round, and after checking her hole-by-hole numbers and handing me the card, she proclaimed with a big smile, "Look, I actually signed my scorecard!"
She obviously was poking fun at herself, so I played along. "Good for you, Michelle! That's awesome!" I responded, and she laughed along with the other players in her group.
That moment told me a lot about Michelle, that despite all of the controversy and criticism surrounding her lately, she keeps a sense of humility and playfulness. There's a ton of pressure on that girl, and she does a great job maintaining her composure. I've dealt with Michelle at all of her PGA TOUR appearances, and each time she has been nothing but soft-spoken and kind.
That being said, I seriously doubted she was going to make the cut, even after her respectable score on Thursday. I didn't watch her round, but I spoke with her playing partners later and both agreed she was scrambling like crazy. Granted, she was playing in a stiff afternoon wind during round one, but she only had 24 total putts and yet still shot over par. That meant she needed to play MUCH better on Friday morning and post a number in the red just to make the cut. She hung in there for a little while the next day, but eventually crashed through the thin ice and made some big numbers on her way to an 80.
I know that Michelle's presence at a men's event is big time news for most, but I feel it tarnishes her reputation as a legitimate pro golfer and probably erodes her confidence, as well. She needs to play with the women, and start winning tournaments...period. I mean, if the appeal of women playing in PGA TOUR events is just to see if they can sneak under the cut line, then let's put some proven champions out there. Lorena Ochoa, Suzann Pettersen or Brittany Lincicome all come to mind as big-hitting ladies who actually have professional victories. Let's give them a shot. Michelle's had her chances, and she's 0 for 8.
I'm rooting for Michelle to do great things on the LPGA, mainly because she's too nice of a person to go down in history as a mismanaged underachiever. She's a great golfer, and as long as she keeps playing against the ladies, she'll start writing a new chapter for herself soon enough.
Labels: Legends Reno Tahoe Open, LPGA, Michelle Wie
posted by Casey at
1:33 PM
9 Comments
Links to this post
