Posted at 10:31 a.m., Tuesday, May 9, 2006
Wie signs deal with South Korean developer
Associated Press
SEOUL, South Korea — Teenage golfer Michelle Wie signed an advertising contract with a South Korean real estate developer today, as she wrapped up a trip here after succeeding in making the cut in a men's tournament.Under the two-year contract, Wie will appear in TV and newspaper commercials for ShinYoung Co., a developer that builds apartments and other buildings, the company said in a statement.
ShinYoung didn't disclose the amount of the contract, but South Korea's Yonhap news agency, without citing sources, reported the deal was worth $3 million.
Wie's "spirit shown in a series of competitions against men befits ShinYoung's image as a developer," the company said.
It said her commercials will be filmed in Hawai'i and New York starting later this month and will be shown from August.
On Friday, Wie made the cut in a men's tournament for the first time in eight attempts while playing in the Asian Tour's SK Telecom Open. She finished 35th in the tournament.
Wie was born and raised in Hawai'i, but her parents are South Korean. She speaks fluent Korean, has a Korean name — Wie Sung-mi — and many of her relatives, including grandparents, live here.
Because of that background, many South Koreans consider her Korean. Local media often include Wie among "Korean" golf stars playing in the United States, and the news agency Yonhap referred to her latest trip to Korea as a "visit to homeland."
