By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

If Michelle Wie was making glaring errors because of her coach, you can bet her father, BJ, would step in and order a permanent change.

If anyone else was undermining his daughter, chances are BJ would see that changes were forthcoming and long lasting.

And, that's what he needs to do with the caddie, too: Fire himself.

Not as a daddy but as a caddie. Find somebody — or several somebodies — who know what they are doing to take over as caddie, and then stay on the other side of the ropes and be her biggest fan instead of her controversial shadow.

Stepping away from his daughter's side and back into the gallery yesterday in the final round of the U.S. Women's Open was a good start by BJ. Now, the hope is that it won't be just until the current furor fades, but permanent.

The Wies have done a remarkable job nurturing and raising their precocious 13- year-old in a pressurized environment. For that, they should be applauded. But her stature and play have escalated to such a lofty level that what has transpired at Pumpkin Ridge suggests they have reached a point where it is time to step outside the household for some help.

These aren't father-daughter tournaments at the local country club she is playing this summer. These are and will be LPGA and Nationwide tour events, where the people around her are playing for their livelihoods.

Some of whom, unfortunately, might be jealous of all the attention lavished on Wie and inclined to take snarling offense at any slight, real or perceived. People, whose pay days ride on each stroke, who might not be inclined toward patience or understanding.

"They play golf for a living; they know the etiquette," BJ Wie told the media Friday. "We don't know, we are still learning."

And, that's the problem in a nutshell. It is a different game played at a high level. While few expect Michelle, at her tender age, to know it all, more is expected of her caddie.

Even many major junior tourneys forbid parents as caddies. If Wie is going to continue to play in professional events, then she needs someone at her side who knows the rules and all the nuances. Someone who isn't standing by while she walks in another golfer's line of sight; who isn't going to let her putt at untended pins. Somebody who isn't incessantly talking or being a cheerleader on the green.

While taking on a new caddie could add to the family's expenses, you've got to believe that, like the companies who provide free merchandise, the visibility of being Wie's caddie, not to mention the opportunity to get in on the ground floor, would give her the choice of some good people for free or at a great rate.

Wie is fortunate to have caring parents in her corner. But on the green at this level, it becomes a job for a caddie, not daddy.