Wie constantly seeking new challenges to tackle
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By Bill Kwon
Michelle Wie doesn't want to be known in the future as someone who won the most LPGA tournaments in history. She wants to be remembered as "someone who did crazy stuff," the 15-year-old golf phenom said during last month's Sony Open in Hawai'i.
Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser
"I want to be known as doing stuff that no one ever thought of ... I want to be known as people that changed the world and people that change how people think."
Whether trying to make the cut at the Sony Open, or taking on the men in another event, Michelle Wie is seeking to break new ground.
Playing against the PGA Tour pros wasn't a matter of making a statement, according to Wie.
"Just think outside the box," she said.
With her precocious talent and monster golf swing, Wie is doing just that.
She has already forced others to change their minds and change the rules.
First, the LPGA three years ago increased the number of exemptions to six tournaments a year and, obviously, it was because of Wie.
Then, as the sponsor, McDonald's strongly insisted that amateurs (read Wie) be given exemptions to the LPGA Championship. McDonald's saw how Wie spiked interest in the other two American majors — the Kraft Nabisco Championship and the U.S. Women's Open — and wondered persistently why she wasn't playing in its major.
So, for the first time this year, amateurs will be allowed to play in the McDonald's LPGA Championship, bringing to an end 50 years of pros-only tradition.
Feb. 24 to 26—SBS Open, Palmer Course, Turtle Bay Resort, Hawai'i. March 17 to 20—Safeway International, Superstition Mountain GC, Ariz. March 24 to 27—Kraft Nabisco Championship, Mission HIlls CC, Rancho Mirage, Calif. June 9 to 12—McDonald's LPGA Championship, Buille Rock GC, Havre de Grace, Md. June 23 to 26—U.S. Women's Open, Cherry Hills CC, Englewood, Colo. July 20 to 23—Evian Masters, Evian Masters GC, Evian-les-Baines, France. July 28 to 31—Weetabix Women's British Open, Royal Birkdale GC, Southport, England. Oct. 13 to 16—Samsung World Championship, Big Horn GC (Canyons Course), Palm Desert, Calif. POSSIBLE 2005 USGA EVENTS June 16 to 19—U.S. Open, Pinehurst, N.C.* July 11 to 16—U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship, Swope Memorial GC, Kansas City, Mo. (Or) July 11 to 16—U.S. Men's Amateur Public Links Championship, Shaker Run GC, Lebanon, Ohio.* Aug. 1 to 7—U.S. Women's Amateur, Ansley Golf Club (Settindown Course), Roswell, Ga.* Aug. 22 to 28—U.S. Men's Amateur, Merion Golf Club, Ardmore, Pa.* *—Must qualify to play.
With the Punahou School sophomore already eligible for the 2005 U.S. Women's Open because of her T-13 finish last year, the Women's British Open wasn't about to become the only major without Wie.
WIE'S UPCOMING 2005 PRO EVENTS
Guess what?
The governing Ladies Golf Union of St. Andrews extended a special exemption to Wie for the Weetabix Women's British Open at the Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England, July 28 to 31.
"We have followed Michelle's development over the last two years with great interest and admiration and in particular her performances in major championships," said the LGU chief executive Andy Salmon, also impressed by her Curtis Cup performance in England last year.
The latest exemption, which doesn't count as one of the six from the LPGA and approved by a new policy adopted by the LPGA board last year for the two women's opens, gives Wie the opportunity to play in all four women's majors.
She has been dealt a four-of-a-kind, a personal grand slam of the majors.
The British invite dovetails perfectly with her European schedule this summer. Earlier, Wie had been invited again to the LPGA Evian Masters in France, which is the week before the Women's British Open.
Michelle's father, BJ Wie, got his wish of playing back-to-back tournaments in Europe. However, there is a schedule hang-up, he said.
He is trying to book a flight out of London the Sunday night of the Women's British Open so that Wie can enter the U.S. Women's Amateur starting the following day in Roswell, Ga., just north of Atlanta. She will play if she can get there in time.
And, Michelle's idea of thinking outside the box could lead to the possibility that she might not be playing in the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship, which she won in 2003 and lost in the 36-hole final last year.
"It's not in the schedule yet," BJ Wie said about Michelle's summer tour involving USGA events.
The reason is simple.
Wie will first try and qualify for the U.S. Men's Amateur Public Links Championship since the winner gets an invitation to the Masters. The USGA hasn't announced the qualifying sites as yet, but Team Wie hopes to find one nearby when she's touring the Mainland.
If Wie qualifies for the men's event, she will miss the women's competition because both USGA public links championships will be held the same week of July 11 to 16.
As a previous champion, Wie is already assured of a spot in the 36-hole qualifying for the women's event in Kansas City, Mo. She will play, if she doesn't make the men's qualifying for the championship in Lebanon, Ohio.
Also in keeping with her goal of doing stuff nobody thought of before, Wie also plans on trying to qualify for the men's U.S. Open and the U.S. Amateur championships, knowing full well that a victory in either event, or even a runner-up finish in the latter, means an invitation to become the first female to play in the Masters.
Now, that really is crazy, out-of-the-box thinking.
"I never wanted to do ordinary things," said the extraordinary Wie.
Bill Kwon can be reached at bkwon@aloha.net.
