Don’t know about you, but I am sick of reading about Michelle Wie.
Being a golfer and golf fan, I check out all the weekly tournaments. Checking on the Euro Masters, I saw an Associated Press story with the headline “Wie opens with 7-over 78 at European Masters; three share lead at 5-under.” The first six paragraphs were all about Wie. And oh, by the way, the leaders were mentioned in the seventh paragraph as was the assessment about a “relatively weak field.”
But that’s OK because Michelle is teeing it up with the boys again, so that makes the tournament front-page news. One day later, she missed the cut and the story was again about her.
Let me get this straight. Because Wie is playing in this tournament, it doesn’t matter that more than 100 golfers are ahead of her. We as a nation (and media) are so fixated at how Wie fares in a tournament that we forget about everyone else.
Why is it that whenever the 16-year-old wunderkind with the impressive publicity machine behind her tees it up, that’s all we read about?
Don’t feel sorry for Wie. She has already publicly announced that “hopefully, I will be able to play the Ryder Cup one day.”
Hopefully, Wie will win a women’s tournament one day. Hopefully, when she competes with the men she will make it to the third round, either before she misses the cut or quits because of heat exhaustion.
And to think people complain about all the press that Tiger Wood receives. At least Tiger is a threat to win every time he tees it up. Wie isn’t even a threat to make the cut.
Personally, I can’t get enough of Tiger. Sometimes I wonder if he’s human. I mean, aren’t you supposed to have a letdown after winning a major tournament? Not Tiger. All he does is reel off five wins in a row against the best men in the world.
But back to Wie. Personally, I would like to see her beat the women before she tees it up against the men. Only Vijay Singh had the guts to tell it like is, and he was villified and skewered by the media and women’s groups.
Don’t get me wrong. Wie is a wonderful player and a special talent. But she’s a 16-year-old kid who should be enjoying high school life instead of living a very public appearance.
True, she and her family can count their money all the way to the bank. Win or lose, she will make more money than anyone but Tiger (and perhaps Phil Mickelson). So maybe she and her parents have the last laugh on us all. Her father, B.J. Wie, is aware of the financial windfall his family can reap. After all, he told one writer that some are not aware of the “capitalistic market mechanism,” that large galleries will follow his daughter even when she shoots a 77.
Don’t count me as one of them. I guess I just don’t understand capitalism.
