By Alex Miceli and Ken Klavon

Newport, R.I. – There have been many favorites in sports -- the Chicago Bulls in the Michael Jordan era, the Yankees in the late ‘90s, the Edmonton Oilers during the Wayne Gretzky era. Add Michelle Wie’s name to the list as she attempts to win her first professional event, let alone major, at Newport Country Club this weekend.

At a mere 16 years old, Wie has many of the credentials needed to come into a major championship as the favorite. For starters, she has loads of experience, which includes playing on tours all over the world against men and women.  It’s her 11^th major championship, of which she has registered eight top-10 finishes.

Those experiences, good and bad, have provided Wie a vast pool of knowledge to draw on during the many diverse and complicated situations a player can encounter playing under pressure.

"I think it's been helping me a lot," said Wie. "I've been learning a lot from those events, especially qualifying.  I learned a lot from that experience."

Paula Creamer has been battling a sore right wrist, but she said Tuesday that it won't affect her play. (John Mummert/USGA)

Wie has played in three LPGA events in 2006, The Fields Open in Hawaii, the Kraft Nabisco Championship and the McDonald’s LPGA Championship.  In each she has had a chance to win, placing third, a tie for third and tie for fifth.  While she needed a 66 on the final day at the Fields Open to move up to third, she only needed to play a little better down the stretch to win one of the two majors. But she shot finishing round of 70 and 72, not horrible, yet more was needed to win.

In each case she had a hiccup with her putter. She had missed the kind of crucial putts that champions make, but didn’t someone once say that you have to fail before you can taste success?

"I feel like every putt I make, every putt I miss, every putt that goes around the toilet bowl and every putt I don't make, it's one step closer to being a better putter," said Wie. "I think that I'm a great putter.  I think it's just that everyone is looking at every single putt that I make.  And I'm not going to make every single putt, and I'm never going to be really happy with how I putt.  But I think that every putt that I hit, miss or make, is just going to make me a better putter."

Fixating on putting at Newport, where the greens are relatively soft with little undulation, seems to be a fool’s errand. It is why Wie’s well documented putting woes should be discounted this week.

Instead, for the first time in a long while, Wie may have the huge advantage due to her length. It’s definitely part of an effective arsenal she relishes in displaying.  Like all youngsters, Wie has focused on hitting the ball hard and far. Her 283-yard average off the tee at McDonald’s moved her into the top five drivers, in terms of length, on the LPGA Tour. It should provide a distinct advantage this week where length will be a considerable advantage. The driver could conceivably be used up to 12 times a round.

"I think that it opens a lot of fairways for me because it's so wet," said Wie of the drenched Newport course. "Since I'm not getting a lot of roll on my drives, it kind of opened up the fairway a little bit."

The length advantage is only part of why Wie is the prohibitive favorite.  With the exception of a poor final round that Wie claims she has completely erased from her memory, it’s not hard to see why she could win. 

"I learned a lot from playing Cherry Hills last year," she said. "I felt like the rough was really tough.  I wasn't really -- it wasn't like my type of golf course. It's not like I could hit driver every hole; it wasn't a bomber's golf course. It made me hit a lot more 3-woods, especially on the final round."

Wie also learned that par can be acceptable at tough Open venues. Those experiences become invaluable when trying to be aggressive or conservative. Wie is far beyond her years, having learned how to play Open setups.

Now the question is can she execute her game plan successfully and win her first professional major?  The only thing stopping her may be Mother Nature.

"If the truth be told, I'm a little wuss; I run inside when it starts raining," said Wie. "But obviously during The British Open it was cold, rain, wind.  At least I have that tournament under my belt, playing in the rain.  Hopefully it doesn't rain.  But if it rains, I'm just going to play through it.

By the way, Wie finished tied for third at the British Open last year.

Rainbow Connection

There must be something funny in the pineapple juice they drink in Hawaii. No less than four players, all teenagers, from the state are in the field this week.

Everyone knows who the obvious one is, and if you didn’t guess Wie, you haven’t been paying attention. Besides Wie, three others from the Rainbow State, all amateurs, will join her: 16-year-old Ayaka Kaneko, 14-year-old Kimberly Kim and Stephanie Kono, 16.

Kono is part of the KMR School of Golf in Hawaii, the same place that 15-year-old Tadd Fujikawa attends. Fujikawa just played in the U.S. Open at Winged Foot, missing the cut.

A fervent reader of the Yellow Pages at age 6, Kono got interested in playing the sport when she stopped on golf.

Kim will be playing in her fourth USGA event, although this will be her first Women’s Open. She’s the youngest in the field. Wie can relate regarding getting recognized at such an early age.

"I played with her [Tuesday] and she’s improved a lot," said Wie. "I think that she’s a great player now."

Then there is Kaneko, who has competed in two LPGA tournaments this year. She missed the cut at the LPGA Takefuji Classic and the ShopRite LPGA Classic. Last year she was named the Hawaii State Junior Golf Association Player of the Year. And she had a simple reason why four teenagers from her state are playing this week.

"I think Hawaii players practice very hard, I guess," said Kaneko.

Champions At Heart

Once a champion, always a champion. That adage certainly applies to 28 players in the field who have won a USGA title. They aren’t forgotten either. Jane Park, winner of the 2004 U.S. Amateur, still receives letters from the USGA congratulating her on various achievements on and off the course.

"You get the star treatment," said Park. "Everyone knows you by your first name," even though she confessed that she has a hard time remembering names and faces.

Candie King, the 2001 U.S. Amateur Public Links champion, looks at it as a nice touch. She stays up to date with the Association via e-mail and letters.

"I love to come back to USGA events," said Kung. "This is always the best championship of the year."

It’s refreshing news considering that players often will find something to bicker about. Hilary Lunke won the 2003 Women’s Open and still finds the attention somewhat embarrassing. But she is prideful being placed among champion’s row in the locker room each year.

"This has always been my favorite championship," said Lunke. "You can take rest in knowing that you’ve won this before."

Kane In The Mix?

Canadian Lori Kane, who grew up in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, is used to the kind of weather that blanketed Newport Country Club on Wednesday - gusty with light scattered showers.

"I got out of the car today and thought I was standing here and said, ‘We could be at the British Open.’ That’s the feel it has," said Kane.

Traditionally Women’s Open venues have been long and narrow with relatively fast greens, but as Kane pointed out, the course has a typical Scottish- or Irish-links style.  The fact that the course could be long and hard seemed to excite Kane, 41, who has a solid record at U.S. Open’s with three top 10s. She tied for fourth at last year’s Women’s Open at Cherry Hills. In nine championships, she’s never missed the cut.

"I tend to play well on tough golf courses and so I’m hoping for the best this year," she said.  "My year hasn’t been quite what I wanted.  I’m excited about playing here, I’m excited about what Mother Nature has in store for us [Thursday] and how the USGA sets things up."

Kane hasn’t won the on the LPGA Tour since 2001 and hasn’t recorded a top 10 in 13 starts this season.

However, she feels her game is coming back into form over the last couple weeks, mainly because she is not beating herself up as much about her performance. She’s just trying to enjoy playing.

"There have been a lot of good things, but it just hasn’t all come together," she said. "I’ve been feeling really good about things.  I’m putting well; I’m driving the ball where I need to."

There’s no doubt Newport will be the hardest golf course the women will see this year. Kane has spent the week trying to figure out the best way to attack the course, saying that she won’t be the only one with long irons in her bag.

"I worked my 4-wood pretty good [Tuesday] and I put a 5-wood in the bag and I’m going to take my gap wedge out, so I’ve put in some longer artillery," she said.

Briefly

Paula Creamer will play even though she has sprained ligaments in her right wrist. Doctors don’t feel she can do any more damage to it. She’s been wearing a brace to alleviate the pain.

Ken Klavon is the USGA Web Editor. Alex Miceli is a freelance writer whose work has appeared previously on www.uswomensopen.com.