Wie points to Solheim Cup as a goal
By Bill Kwon
Special to The Advertiser
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KAHUKU — Finishing as runner-up — especially after leading by three strokes with eight holes to go — clearly disappointed Michelle Wie, who was trying to make it a storybook finish by winning her first LPGA event in her first try as a member of the women's tour.
But Wie came away with a couple of positives in the SBS Open at Turtle Bay and we don't mean a $108,332 paycheck — her first official money — for finishing second to Angela Stanford, now the hottest LPGA golfer with her third victory in seven starts.
Anyway, Wie:
It might be tougher for Wie to achieve the latter goal because she's off to a late start. The points race for the Solheim Cup began in late 2007 and Paula Creamer leads with 523.5 points after finishing in a tie for 15th yesterday.
Only the top-10 point leaders are assured of making the American team for this year's Solheim Cup just outside of Chicago, Aug. 21 to 23. Currently at No. 10 is Stacy Prammanasudh with 143 points. There aren't too many LPGA events for Wie to gain ground before they stop totaling up points after the Women's British Open.
Wie, however, could still make it as one of Beth Daniel's two captain's picks if she plays as well as she did this week.
Daniel told GolfWorld's Ron Sirak that she would be disappointed if either Wie or this year's two other heralded rookies, Stacy Lewis and Vicky Hurst, didn't play their way on the Solheim team as Creamer did in 2005.
So, in a way, Wie got a jump-start in that regard, too. "It would be a great honor if I, you know, got to play on the team," Wie said. "It's definitely a goal of mine and I think it would be a lot of fun. Hopefully, I'll get in."
Stanford thinks Wie has a good shot at realizing both of her goals, calling the 19-year-old from Hawai'i "one of the most talented players to come along in a long time."
Making the Solheim Cup is huge. It's what keeps 48-year-old Juli Inkster from retiring. And Lewis, who's less than half Inkster's age, also wants it so badly she can taste it, sayings it's one of her primary goals this year.
The Solheim Cup is the women's answer to the Ryder Cup, featuring the best U.S.-born players in the LPGA and the best players from Great Britain and Ireland (GBI) and played biennially. The Americans lead, 7-3, since its inception in 1990 and have never lost on home soil.
Wie, who has done everything her own way since turning heads as a 12-year-old prodigy seven years ago, has shown she can be a team player when it comes to one of golf's rare team events. She was the youngest player at 14 to make the Curtis Cup, also a biennial event pitting the best U.S. and European women amateurs. She and Creamer each won both of their singles matches in the 2004 Curtis Cup at the Formby Golf Club in England as the Americans won, 10-8.
Wie said there were a lot of positive things she took away from this week.
There were two for sure — leading in the 2009 rookie race and getting her first Solheim Cup points.
