Make it stop (again)

Most of the golf world was staring across the pond this weekend as Padraig Harrington won the British Open for the second year in a row. However, there was another golf story that took some headlines, that of 18 year old female "phenom" (the quotes for reasons which I will discuss later) Michelle Wie being disqualified from the weekend's LPGA event for failing to immediately sign her scorecard after her 2nd round. This was made even more noteworthy by the fact that Wie was actually in contention in the event, something that doesn't happen very often.

However, that isn't what has inspired my second post of the day: this is. For the 8th time in her career, Michelle Wie is going to be playing in a PGA tournament. It's the 14th time overall that Wie has played in a men's tournament. And all I can think is "Why?"

Look, I'm not here to bash Michelle Wie. To a large degree, she has been a victim of her own hype (a hype she has had very little to do with). And the reality is that she is 18, so it's not like she could be considered washed up or a never was. She only seems like she's be around forever because she was inexplicably thrust onto our consciousness at the age of 12, for no really reason other than that she could hit the ball really far.

However, here are the facts of the matter: Wie doesn't even have an LPGA tour card this season, and her best result playing an LPGA event the last 2 years was a 19th place. Thus far in 2008, she's played 6 events (she has one more sponsor's exemption so she'll play one more event). Her tally: 2 missed cuts, a 72nd, a 46th, and a 24th to go with last week's DQ. Wie has never made a cut on the PGA tour, and seems to be moving in the wrong direction in that regard, having missed the cut by 13 and 14 strokes in her last two PGA events. She has absolutely no business golfing in a men's event and talking a sponsor's exemption away from a guy who needs it to get out there and try and earn his keep on the tour. This isn't interesting or relevant - it's a sideshow. Back a few years ago when Annika Sorenstam, who was at that time the unquestioned best female golfer in the world, teed it up with the men, that had some intrigue, and Sorenstam conducted herself well and competed well, despite not making the cut. And even Sorenstam, who I personally believe could have made a cut or two given a few more tries, limited that little experiment to a one time deal.

Let me be clear, however. I don't blame the sponsors for this. Sponsors are not charities. They don't sponsor golf tournaments out of the good of their hearts, they do it to make money. It's not their job to distribute the exemptions to the "most deserving" players not otherwise in the field, and to expect them to do so is quixotic thinking. Sponsers are going to do what's in the best interest of their bottom line, and if that means inviting Wie to create a little extra buzz around the tournament, so be it. And it's working, by the way. This week's tournament would be a complete afterthought without Wie, since virtually all of the best golfers will be taking a week off after the British Open, and it will be one of the weakest fields on the PGA all year (and don't think it's a coincidence that Wie chose to play this one). Instead, there's a front page link on ESPN.com, and people like me are blogging about it. I won't be watching, however.

No, I put the blame for this continued sideshow on Wie and her handlers. The continued insistence on playing PGA events is just another in a long line of poor decisions that have been made in Wie's career, at least if you assume that the goal should be to maximize her golf abilities. Almost from day 1, Wie has consistently been thrust into the next level of competition before coming anywhere near mastery of the level she's on. For all her talent, which is unquestioned, Wie has to her credit one amatuer championship of note, and no professional titles. I'm all about testing yourself against the best competition you can find, but in a sport where the mental part of the game is as important as it is in golf, I think there's a point at which you have step back and learn how to compete and how to win, and Wie has clearly never done that. She was going to attract attention anyhow, but she's been handled in a manner that has thrust her into being the story everywhere she goes, and so since the age of 12 she's had to worry about dealing with all of that along with the normal pressure of trying to compete in and win a golf tournament.

Now, as I said, there's plenty of time for Wie. She's only 18, and right now isn't even really a full-time golfer as she attends Stanford. But please, please, let's leave the men's tournaments go, at least until she proves she can compete with the women.