Thanks, she needed that.

Michelle Wie's undefeated performance (3-0-1) in leading Team USA to victory in the Solheim Cup was a coming-out party in terms of her being just "one of the girls," complete with smiles, exuberance and fist-pumps. Gone was that limp-wristed, wimpy wave by the usually reserved teenager.

Wie was really having fun for a change in rallying around the American flag while deleting the "I" in Wie to become a "We" player.

But golf is still an individual sport, so it's back to the business of dealing with the remaining events on the 2009 LPGA schedule. Wie can only hope that the good vibes from last week can carry over and translate into a long-awaited breakthrough for her first LPGA victory. Veteran Juli Inkster likes Wie's chances, saying she'd bet a large amount of money that Michelle will win a tournament before the year is out.

With her spectacular shot-making and new putting routine, thanks to PGA veteran Dave Stockton, Wie looks like she's ready for that breakout victory. Trouble is, there are only seven tournaments the rest of the year, not counting the limited-field Samsung World Championship and LPGA Tour Championship. It's a good bet, though, that Wie will qualify for both of those events.

Wie is entered in the 54-hole Safeway Classic at the Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in Oregon starting tomorrow and will play in the big money ($2.75 million) CN Canadian Women's Open in Calgary, Alberta, next week.

After that, the rest of her playing schedule is undecided because she plans to resume her studies at Stanford, according to her father, BJ Wie.

"Michelle will return to Stanford late September, but she needs to work on her tournament schedule depending on her course load. She has not finalized her class schedule yet," he said by e-mail.

But, let's see what's a likely tournament scenario for Wie:

It's highly unlikely that she will play in the LPGA event in Arkansas the week before the Samsung World Championship in San Diego or the Navistar LPGA Classic in Alabama. Thankfully, at least for Wie, there's no Kapalua LPGA Classic, one of three October events that were canceled, to worry about. It's also unlikely that she'll play in the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Guadalajara, Mexico, in November. And going to the LPGA's Asian stops in South Korea and Japan is iffy because it would mean too much time away from classes. The only event that's on the bubble is the CVS (nee Longs) LPGA Challenge, which, at least, is in California.

So counting Samsung and the season-ending LPGA Tour Championship in Houston the week before Thanksgiving, Wie might have only five or six more chances to win this year. Difficult odds at best, but still time enough for her first LPGA victory.

It will eventually come, no question. Her game is back and so is a renewed confidence, after her success in the Solheim Cup. Helen Alfredsson, who lost 1 up to Wie in their singles match, called the Hawai'i youngster "a fantastic player."

Both came up with back-to-back shots of the day, Alfredsson hitting her second shot to 4 feet and Wie outdoing her by a foot for eagle tries at the 501-yard, par-5 second hole. Getting outdone in such a sudden and dramatic fashion apparently so unnerved the veteran Swede that she missed her putt and lost the hole when Wie's eagle landed.

Wie was really glad to talk about that shot, remarkable considering the circumstances, saying she wasn't ashamed to give herself a pat on the back for it. "I think that my second shot was the best shot I've ever hit, ever," she said.

As someone who has seen Wie hit amazing shots since she was 11, I think that shot ranks right up there with the one that saved par at the 17th hole at Turtle Bay's Palmer Course in the local qualifier for the 2006 U.S. Open (that's the men's Open). Wie found herself in the woods and among some roots after yanking her drive. She punched out through a 3-by-3-foot opening to get back on the fairway. Then she stiffed a 6-iron from 170 yards out to 5 feet and sank the putt to save par and become the first woman to get through a U.S. Open local qualifier.

It's that kind of shot-making by Wie that has given rise to her being regarded a female Tiger Woods. Time and again, she has come up with Tiger-like shots, and really, I think, the only woman capable of doing so in such spectacular fashion. She bombed two 300-yard-plus drives and another that went 290 yards against Alfredsson, and her iron play was exceptionally dead-on all week.

Now, if she could only putt. Wie used to as a carefree youngster several years ago. She has since become more mechanical with less "feel." But under Stockton and his son, Ronnie, her putting routine has become quicker and less complicated. If she ever gets on a hot streak with her putter, watch out, according to Judy Rankin, a commentator for the Golf Channel and NBC. Rankin, a member of the LPGA and World Golf Hall of Fame, continues to be a strong supporter of Wie, knowing that the youngster's success will boost interest in women's golf, which needs it badly.

Wie's no Tiger Woods. Nobody is. But for those critical about the 19-year-old's still winless LPGA record, they should be reminded that Tiger didn't get his first PGA victory until he was 20.

Wie still has some time, if not this year, to be like Tiger in that regard. Her performance in the Solheim Cup, on the biggest stage in women's team competition, shows that time is coming soon to an LPGA tournament near you. Unfortunately, the LPGA has no events scheduled here next year.