Wie following Tiger's tracks — sort of

By Doug Ferguson
Associated Press

PALM COAST, Fla. — Tiger Woods found motivation from a list he taped on his bedroom wall, a timeline of the golfing exploits by his idol Jack Nicklaus.

BJ Wie, left, says his daughter Michelle is constantly seeking new challenges on the golf course. Associated Press

She has press clippings from some of Woods' 44 victories around the world, eight of them majors. Plastered on the wall are pictures of his swing sequence, showing how much it has evolved over the years.

Asked whether she paid close attention to Woods when she first started playing golf, Wie answered as only a teenager can.

"Sort of ... not really ... but I did," she said after her 1-up victory Sunday in the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links, at 13 the youngest player to win any USGA title for grown-ups.

"My dad loved Tiger," said Wie, who will play in the LGPA's ShopRite Classic in New Jersey this week. "My dad cut out pictures of his swing and pasted them up on my bedroom wall, so I guess I did follow him. It's funny, the transformations he went through. He was really skinny then, and now he's really muscly."

Wie can relate.

In the past 18 months, she has topped out at 6 feet. She is lean and fit, and packs even more power behind drives that she hits as far as men twice her age. One drive measured 314 yards during a key stage in her Public LInks victory.

Wie isn't just a tower of power, either.

The most impressive swing Sunday came on the 135-yard 17th hole in the morning round, to a back-left pin tucked behind a bunker, with a breeze coming into her from the left. Instead of going with a full 9-iron, Wie hit a soft 7-iron to 12 feet.

Is the next Tiger Woods a girl?

Maybe.

She hits prodigious drives and attracts enormous attention no matter where she plays — or with whom.

After playing a pro-am with Tim Herron two years ago at the Sony Open, a reporter approached Herron, one of the big hitters on tour, and immediately inquired about Wie.

"Nothing about me?" he said. "No, 'Happy New Year, good to see you, how are you playing?' All you want to know is how far some 12-year-old girl is blowing it by me?"

Wie was the talk of the Nabisco Championship in March, shooting 66 to get into the final group with Annika Sorenstam and eventual winner Patricia Meunier-LeBouc in the LPGA's first major championship of the year.

Still five years away from being eligible for the LPGA Tour, all the stars know who Wie is and what kind of potential she brings.

Just like it was for Tiger.

The difference is how she plans to reach her destination.

Wie played three times on the LPGA Tour last year at age 12, twice as a Monday qualifier, and never broke par or made a cut.

She already has made the cut in both her LPGA events this year, and will play four more, including the ShopRite Classic. Wie also qualified for the U.S. Women's Open next weekend in Oregon.

Wie will play against the men on the Canadian Tour in August, and on the Nationwide Tour in September, a month after she starts her freshman year at Punahou School.

She is getting loads of experience, but not many trophies.

Is that the right recipe?

"She's impressive," Sorenstam said in January, a few weeks after Wie tried to Monday qualify for the Sony Open, missing by six shots. "It's fun once in a while, but you need to play with your peers. You want to win trophies when you're young."

Sorenstam figured that routinely playing against pros — and routinely finishing back in the pack — "can't be good for your confidence."

Wie's father sees it differently.

BJ Wie said his daughter gets tired of eating the same food, listening to the same music, watching the same kind of movies.

The same is true with golf.

"Her personality is such that whenever she won a local tournament, she didn't want to defend," he said. "She always wants a new challenge. She wants to win more USGA events. Her focus is on the LPGA."

Woods was different.

By the time he was 13, he had won his age group in the prestigious Junior World four times. He won eight times at age 15, including his first U.S. Junior Amateur.

Woods didn't play on the PGA Tour until he was 16, missing the cut at the Nissan Open. In fact, Woods didn't make the cut in any professional tournament until he tied for 41st in the 1995 Masters when he was 19.

It was all part of his father's plan.

"I didn't want him to get into a situation where he was physically overmatched," Earl Woods said. "I used the PGA events for him to get a feel for what was there. The objective was not to make a cut. The objective was to gain experience.

"And it worked."

Woods won 37 times as an amateur. He is the only player to win three straight U.S. Junior Amateurs, followed by three straight U.S. Amateurs.

"When Tiger turned pro, he didn't have to learn how to win," his father said. "He already knew. You don't learn that going in as an amateur playing a PGA Tour event."

Wie is taking a different path.

No one is sure where it will lead, although one thing is certain.

Just like Tiger, everyone sees her coming.