Is Michelle Wie done as a force in womens golf. Todays tourney has her at even par, 10 strokes back. What happened to her. She is young but experience is not making her better. So much expected ,so little realized. When she should be getting better she seems to be fading.
Did she outgrow her swing. ? Was she simply overhyped? Is it too early to say?It is just she seems to be getting worse.
It’s way too early. She’s not even a full-time pro yet.
That might be the problem. She’s been put under unfair pressure to be a star at an early age.
The leader is 10 under? How common is that?
Considering that Lorena Ochoa, the woman who won the Locust Hill tourney, last year, is at one under, now, and thus nine strokes off the lead, I think that the OP is expressing an unreasonable expectation for Michelle Wie. I’m not a golfer, but my understanding is that someone who tourneys and routinely pulls par within one or two strokes is still going to be in the money enough to make a good living following the tour. If that’s the case, I think Wie is doing pretty well, and holding her own against a tough crowd. Is she the next Tiger Woods? I don’t know. But there have been times I’ve heard that Tiger Woods has lost it, too.
If she’s still in the money, she’s not done.
She never was one. She was great at 14 because of her unusual size, but her skills haven’t seemed to evolve, and her size has become less relevant as she’s gotten older and is playing against adults.
Wie is another Anna Kournikova. She’s good enough that people can pretend that’s why she gets all the coverage, but her success will never match her fame. Not only is she not the next Tiger Woods, she’s not even the next Fred Couples.
I was going to agree with this, but I did a bit more research. In 2005 and 2006 she was in the top 5 in 5 of those 8 majors. One 2nd, three 3rds and a 5th. That’s excellent performance, no wins but very good for a young golfer.
In 2007 and 2008, though, she’s been El Stinko. Years full of Withdrawns, Missed Cuts, 70th places, 20-30 stroked behind the winner.
She’s a reminder that no matter how much talent you were born with, if you don’t focus on improving yourself, have a good work ethic, and manage your career with some intelligence, you can put your career in the dumper.
If MW has still not won a significant tournament in 2 years time, I’ll write her off as an early flame-out, but at this point I’m still expecting her to break through. I don’t think she’s done at all.
Overrated? Yeah, I think so. But not done, and very possibly on her way to a great career.
In fairness, she did have a wrist injury, which hasn’t helped.
She was over-hyped, as everyone wanted her to become for the LPGA what Tiger was for the PGA. But she’s still young. Wait until she’s a full-time pro to decide what force she will be.
All right, guys, one more time.
Michelle Wie is not Tiger Woods.
Annika Sorenstam is not Tiger Woods.
Roger Federer is not Tiger Woods.
Kobe Bryant is not Tiger Woods.
Royce Gracie is not Tiger Woods.
Hell, Asashoryu is not Tiger Woods (and he’s been looking disturbingly like Takanohana lately)
Anyone is going to look like a bum, a chump, and a fraud next to Tiger Goddam Effin Bleedin’ Furshlugginer Woods. Just like Wayne Gretzky made an entire generation of defenders look like little kids with sticks. Just like Mike Tyson (ever so briefly) made an utter mockery of boxing’s heavyweight division. Any comparison to Tiger Woods* Does. Not. Work. Because he is several light years above everyone else on the planet right now.
Sheesh. A class act like Jack Nicklaus having to deal with that 800-ton gorilla is bad enough.
As for Wie’s problems? Hard to say. I agree completely that expectations are a huge factor, and there are innumerable cases where having too much success too soon led to crippling disappointment down the road (hell, Wie wouldn’t even be the first LPGA case this decade). If she does have a wrist injury, that’s a danger sign that she’s either pushing too hard or not conditioning properly. The latter, as you’ll remember, destroyed Anna Kournikova’s career, and that cheap no-brainer comparison will be very haunting should Wie end up the same way.
But hey, it’s golf…who the hell knows? Predicting success or failure for anyone is futility. (I’m not the only one who’s wondering when the hell Sergio Garcia is going to amount to something.) She may crash and burn. She may have a miraculous rebirth and become the star she was meant to be. Or she may settle into a make-the-cut, 10th-to-30th place, modest five figures a tourney groove. The thing is, all three scenarios are still a possibility at this point.
So I can’t answer the question…nobody can.
Suffice it to say that as long as she’s getting people on message boards to talk about the LPGA, nobody in the organization will have much beef about any underachieving issues. 
- Okay, Lance Armstrong, fine, and maybe Greg Lougainis, but good luck getting a dicussion going…
Ehem…Michael. Jeffery. Jordan.
A lot of this pressure she put on herself. Playing in professional men’s tournaments at age 15? She definitely tried to do a bit too much, even if she was wildly successful (in a relative sense) in several LPGA majors.
The only real issue tho to me is the wrist; once she gets over that she’ll likely be fine. She is still very young, and golfers tend to peak in their late 20’s/early 30’s (tho I think women peak earlier than the men do, for whatever reason).
Tiger Woods has set the bar impossibly high for any other golfer to be considered ‘great’.
Before Woods came along, it was unusual for any one golfer to completely dominate the game. Golf is an extremely difficult game to stay really good at. Subtle body changes or losses of focus can mean the difference between being a top 10 golfer and dropping back in the pack. The careers of most golfers would see them rise near the top for a little while, then fall back into the pack, then rise again, etc. That seems to be about what Michelle Wie is doing.
A better comparison would be to someone like Phil Mickelson, who, if Tiiger wasn’t around, might be considered to be the best golfer today. Last year, he won three tournaments out of 22 he enterd, he only placed in the top ten seven times out of 22, and he missed the cut in six tournaments. In 2005, he only missed one cut, and the year before that he had thirteen top tens.
That kind of variance, or even worse, is typical of most great golfers. Think about it this way - if your skill level allows you to drop the ball within 40 feet of the pin from 100 yards, and a better golfer can drop it within 20 feet, there are still going to be plenty of times when you drop the ball closer than he does, just through variance. Add in the randomness of the course itself (your ball rolling into a divot or a high bit of grass - his getting a lucky bounce and landing on a perfect lie), and now mix in 64 great golfers, and it used to be quite rare that any one player would consistently win tournaments.
Michelle Wie appears to be a very good golfer. Tiger Woods is a freak of nature.
Wie finished 12 back in a tie for 24th. Not a force in the Wegmans.
Who, the third best player in NBA history?
Sorry about that. But you are right. To a generation, he did amazing things against some of the best athletes on the planet and made them look stupid.
…Like Barry Sanders.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you stir a pot.
She’s still very young - all the press just makes it seem as tho she’s been around for a while.
Yes, she was strong in the majors for that 2-year period, playing part-time as a teen.
She could recover her career to become the next Sean O’Hair. Maybe not a dominant force, but good enough to make a living and win a tourney or 2 here or there.
(And the disgusting pig in me has to observe that I find watching LPGA MUCH more enjoyable when MW gets significant airtime!)
I ain’t biting.
Even Tiger wasn’t doing particularly well in the majors at her age. He finished 41st at the Masters when he was 19.
Well, even if she is done, I don’t think she’ll have to worry about going hungry.
Estimated income:
2006 $17 million
2007 $19.5 million
Me neither. Jerry Rice’s career is equally as impressive. And a case could be made for a variety of recently retired quarterbacks. The NFL just doesn’t have a freak of nature-type player.