Wie is the future, like it or not

"At (Michelle) Wie's age, a spot in the Women's Open should be earned, not given."

"...there is absolutely no way Michelle Wie should be getting a special exemption into the U. S. Women's Open. Just because she is a special young player is no reason she should get special treatment, it is not reason the rules and spirit of the game should be violated."

"If she doesn't learn to win, I think it could be a negative. I think they should put her in some tournaments that she walks."

By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

Now, the question becomes: Can she take them?

Here it is the beginning of her summer vacation and already it is becoming open season on the young prodigy as the fallout from her exemption to the U.S. Women's Open suggests.

Her "crime"?

Being 14 years old and not being afraid to reach for the stars — or apologize for it.

Wie has made it all look eagle-easy so far. But this is where it begins to get tough. Not just the actual playing, perhaps, but everything that surrounds it. Everything that can weigh on somebody far beyond her tender years.

Up to now she has been the darling of golf, the perky and precocious youngster whose remarkable exploits have made people hurriedly redraw the frontiers of the sport. Heretofore, people have marveled at her talents and praised her poise. They've chuckled at what has come out of her mouth, been amazed by her game and forgiven her hard charge.

But as the exemptions pile up, the resentment is bound to as well. There was a hint of controversy when she accepted an exemption to the Sony. But that was muted because it was a tournament in her backyard.

Now, as she gathers exemptions far and wide and as others with longer resumés are forced to the ropes to make way for the future, not everybody is saluting this changing of the guard.

This latest chapter isn't some free pass to the 84 Lumber Classic. It is an exemption some would favor going to a golfer trying to feed a family or a former star in the twilight of a career. Never mind that she would be 28th on the LPGA money list had she not been an amateur and the top 35 qualify.

It isn't just Wie. You sense there is also the fear of how many might follow her.

There is no road map for where Wie is taking the sport. There is nothing in the Rules of Golf or in the archives of the Royal and Ancient on how to deal with Wie's ascendancy.

That is the burden of being the trailblazer she has become.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.