Golf

Wie looks ahead to 2009

They say it is difficult to be a woman in a mans world and a person who could tell you this better than most would be Michelle Wie. Everyone has their opinion on the female golfer and although she has her fans and backers, there appears to be a greater number of people who are quick to criticize the youngster. Whether its her poor showings in the male tournaments she has entered, her use of sponsor exemptions to enter tournaments, her citing of injuries for poor performances or even her choice of clothes, Michelle Wie has never had to look far to find someone who is not overly enamored with her. Given the way she has raised the profile of female golfers and made a lot of money, some of this may be down to jealousy but given that she is now looking to focus on golf full-time, it is time for Wie to silence her critics and live up to the potential she undoubtedly has.

One of the ways that Wie has set about rebuilding her reputation has been to show a willingness to earn a membership place on the LPGA Tour for 2009 and has been participating in the five day qualifying school that is taking place at Daytona Beach in Florida in the United States. Wie entered the tournament knowing a place in the top 20 would be enough to secure her place on the 2009 LPGA Tour and at the end of the second day, the 19 year old was sharing first place but a 72, level par, on the third day saw her drop to third place. Wie currently stands at 10 under par with two days to go and looks assured of securing her place in the top 20 barring an outright disaster.

Wie trails the American Mollie Fankhouser who shot an impressive 66, six shots under par on the third day to stand at 12 under par overall for the event so far. Fankhouser currently sits one place ahead of the Japanese golfer, Shiho Oyama who came home at one under par on the third day and who sits just ahead of Wie on the leader board. The third day’s event took place on the Legends course, which is said to be the more difficult of the two courses that are being utilised for this event. On day one of the event, Wie managed to shoot a 69 on the Legends course and on day two, came home on 65 after playing on the Champions layout. With the primary objective of securing a spot on the forthcoming LPGA tour virtually assured, Wie could do improve her confidence greatly by finishing strongly in the final two days of the event and perhaps finishing at the front of the pack.

With so much attention on Wie, who regardless of the hype, earnings or sponsorship deals is still very much in the infancy of her career, it is perhaps not surprising that she has struggled to sustain a consistency in her golfing and hopefully the ability to play on the LPGA tour more regularly in 2009 will allow the youngster to develop her career as many predicted. The woman’s tour is likely to gain a lot of increased exposure in the year ahead due to her presence which will bring its own pressure for the participants but how Wie, and her rivals respond to this increased pressure, will go a long way to determining who claims the most titles and takes home the most prize money in the year ahead.