I’ve never really followed Michelle Wie, not sure why, perhaps it was all of the hype surrounding her from a very early age. A precocious talent, started playing golf at the tender age of four and set numerous records as a teenager including the youngest player to make the cut at a LPGA tour event aged just thirteen.
With a multi-million Nike contract in her parents back pocket, golf super-stardom was only a matter of when not if.
Michelle turned pro just before her 16 th birthday and now still only 22 has won two LPGA tour events and finished 9 th overall in 2010. A great achievement but perhaps not the dominance her media hype had predicted.
Once regarded as a threat to the men’s tour she now settles for competing against the very best female golfers.
Could there be lessons to learn for other talented teenagers not to heap pressure on yourself and resist the temptation to become a salesperson for numerous brands too soon in your golf career? Though when money is being thrown at you it’s very hard not to catch it.
Wie’s had a shaky start to 2012, finishing 59 th out of 60 players in Singapore. Only a talented few can hit a golf ball 300 yards and win tour events, but we can all scream four letter expletives when life’s frustrations take over.
This little episode on the 17 th tee will not be recorded on the official Michelle Wie website. To me it makes her more ‘normal’, more human, more likeable.
To view Michelle Wie's entire statistics and performance data please visit USA's goliath golf channel; http://www.golfchannel.com/tours/player/michelle-wie
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