Oui To Wie: 13 Year Old Taking Golf By Storm
By Ken Klavon, USGA
North Plains, Ore. – Last week at the Inverness Club, Jack Nicklaus
was holding court by the side of the practice putting green providing
his usual insight on all things golf.
Little segue between topics, Michelle Wie was brought up. Nicklaus’
head rose slowly and his eyes caught fire.
"When I pick up the papers and see her name," he said,
"I want to see her play."
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| Michelle Wie became the youngest-ever
winner when she won the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links in
June. (John Mummert/USGA) |
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If that’s not a validation of recognition in the sport, nothing
else is. Nicklaus, like the rest of the country, has caught on to
the young phenom who is conjuring up images of a young Tiger Woods.
Who is she, how is she, where is she?
Wie, six-feet tall, is a girl but hardly plays like one.
Consider this: she won the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links several
weeks ago and won, becoming the youngest champion ever.
Consider this: she can boom the ball off the tee a mere 300 yards.
That’s when she turned 12.
Consider this: She has finished in a tie for ninth in the Kraft
Nabisco Championship, tied for 33rd in the Chick-fil
A Charity Championship and in a tie for 52nd at the ShopRite
LPGA Classic this year, all on the LPGA Tour. Last year she played
in three LPGA events and missed the cut.
And consider this: she’s only 13. Not even old enough to be cynical.
On Wednesday, the media packed in during Wie’s interview session.
There were more reporters and cameras than for any other player
this week, including Annika Sorenstam. Could this little Hawaiian
girl born to Korean parents B.J., a college professor, and Bo, a
realtor, serve as the upcoming face of golf? If anything, she can’t
hurt.
Rhonda Glenn, long-time golfer and historian, maybe summed it up
best: "There’s a famous quote that Judy Rankin said, ‘Everybody
came out to see Mickey Wright play golf, and then they discovered
the rest of us.’"
The prodigy taking the golf world by storm isn’t what one would
expect. Wie is not loud, rambunctious or full of herself. In fact,
quite the contrary. The soft-spoken pupil of swing coach Gary Gilchrist,
affiliated with the David Leadbetter Academy, is anything but.
"I met the gal out at the Skins Game," said Nicklaus.
"She’s a big girl, very pleasant, very nice."
To some, Wie has come off as sounding cocky because of comments
she made about wanting to play in the Masters some day, as well
as on the PGA Tour. Later this year she’ll play tournaments on the
Nationwide Tour and the Canadian Tour.
"I want to play at the Masters and the PGA Tour because I
think that’s going to take me to the highest level," said Wie.
"And if I improve every year, I’m going to want to go one more
step."
There are the naysayers who believe at 13 she’s on a path to destruction.
Her parents, targeting $70,000 out of pocket this year for her to
play, are guarding her from agents and the potential riff-raff who
want a piece of the action. But how could she possibly be a child
yet immersed in an adult crapshoot of organized golf full of agents
and marketers?
"I would think, ‘How do they know?’" said Wie, eliciting
laughter because of her innocence. "I mean, they’re not 13.
They’re probably 30 years old, watching TV watching me play. I’m
still young and fresh, and I can handle it."
Handle it she has. When she was 10, she first qualified for the
adult-dominated WAPL. She made it to match play that year by shooting
74-76 in the qualifying rounds. From there, stardom was building
for the golfer who has never shot a round above 100 at any point
in her life.
On Tuesday, Wie practiced with 23-year-old Lisa Chang and 22-year-old
Brandi Jackson, last year’s U.S. Women’s Amateur runner-up. On the
first hole, there were more people in the gallery to watch her than
there was to see Nicklaus in his first round of the Senior Open.
The grandstand was full, and the ropes were lined all the way to
the green.
Wie, whose father caddies for her, opted for a 4-wood on the 383-yard
par 4 and drove the ball 251 yards dead center. Chang and Jackson
used driver. Wie outdrove both; Jackson by 21 yards and Chang by
60.
It’s been a theme wherever she plays. At the Kraft Nabisco Championship
she averaged 286.2 off the tee, tops in the field.
"The length is definitely surprising," said Jackson.
Wie is not infallible. During the Tuesday practice round, her 6-iron
drive off the 169-yard par-3 second hole tee box bounded into a
left bunker. She grabbed another ball and tried again. This time
she found the green. It was because she listened and has the determination
to do better, a discipline instilled in her by her parents.
"She’s just trying to navigate around the course right now,"
said Gilchrist matter-of-factly.
On the third hole, Wie’s clan was joined by Bo. Wie noticed, said
a few words in Korean, and kept her concentration. Her drive landed
in a right fairway bunker just below the ridge, 164 yards short
of the hole. Instead of hacking out, she sought out Gilchrist.
"Do you think I’ll be able to fly the ridge?" she asked.
"Get a 6-iron and open the face," said Gilchrist.
Wie listened. Next shot, on the green 10 feet from the hole.
Paying Attention
Nicklaus isn’t the only one who has noticed. Other legends of golf
have surveyed, some from afar, and have opinions. All-time great
Mickey Wright, a recluse in Florida, started watching Wie on TV
a couple of years ago, impressed by what she saw. Barbara Romack,
who beat Wright for the 1954 U.S. Women’s Amateur crown, had this
to say: "In my lifetime, she has without a doubt the greatest
golf swing than anyone else I’ve ever seen. At 13, I just wanted
to hit it hard to beat the boys. I think Mickey [Wright] had one
of the best swings, and my all-time favorite was Ben Hogan. But
this, she actually has no flaws."
Romack serves as an instructor in Florida and has come across kids
learning the game. But there is no comparison as far as she is concerned.
"The only weakness she has is her lack of experience,"
said Romack.
Even today’s players are raising an eyebrow. Juli Inkster, Annika
Sorenstam and Karrie Webb marveled at the maturity Wie possesses.
Thinking back to their days of the same age, all had trouble relating.
Inkster got involved at 15.
"The reason why I started, it gave me something I could do
that I didn’t have to compete with my [two] older brothers,"
said Inkster.
Sorenstam was busy playing junior and club tournaments at 12.
"I think some players mature early, some mature late,"
said Sorenstam. "It’s tough to say if it’s too early to play
in this big championship."
Webb, who started at 13, said she is in awe of Wie but warned of
a burnout factor, using tennis’ Jennifer Capriati as an example.
Tennis, she said, requires younger participants because their prime
years are over by the time they’re 30, which is different from golf.
Reading between the lines, she just doesn’t want her to miss out
on anything or grow up too fast.
"When I was a rookie, that was a very exciting year for me,"
said Webb. "Everything was new to me. I would be nervous hitting
balls next to Beth Daniel or Nancy Lopez. Everything was a buzz.
And for someone like Michelle Wie, when [she] plays her rookie year,
it’s going to be a matter of playing for money. It’s not going to
be that excitement of, ‘Oh, my God, I’m playing on the LPGA Tour.’"
Nicklaus agreed, saying that whatever happens, Wie should not get
caught up in the lure of a professional career before experiencing
life as an adolescent.
"I don’t think there is anything wrong with competition at
a young age," said Nicklaus, introduced to the sport by his
father after taking part in many others. "Absolutely not. It’s
not that they can’t be good at what they do, won’t be talented,
but they miss so much in life."
And how does Wie feel about all this? The precocious teen who patterned
her swing after Ernie Els because "that’s a swing that’s going
to last a lifetime" was flattered that so many people have
paid attention.
"I guess it surprises me more than anything," she said.
"I guess people talking about me, like really famous people
talking about me is surprising because it’s surprising that they
even know me. I feel like I’m nobody yet."
It almost seems like an understatement. Start preparing, because
she’s coming.
Ken Klavon is the USGA Web Editor. E-mail him at kklavon@usga.org
with questions and comments.
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