Wie’s win best thing for LPGA since Lopez

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/11/2009 (6152 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FROM a hotel suite in Honolulu overlooking the golf course where Michelle Wie first showed her awesome potential, she looked at newspaper photos from various stages of her youth and realized those days were behind her.

She was 15 and had just turned pro.

Within a year, her income approached US$20 million, more than any other female golfer.

“I know I have to win. That’s my priority now,” Wie said that day. “They all expect me to do better and work harder.”

That was four years ago, spanning 42 starts on the LPGA Tour. Those expectations took a long time to fulfil.

Her face was flush with celebration and relief Sunday when Wie blasted out of a bunker to tap-in range for a two-shot victory in Mexico. She thrust her arms in the air, covered her mouth and before long, she finally tasted that LPGA tradition for first-time winners by getting showered with beer.

It was clear an enormous burden had been lifted.

Wie created those expectations by shooting 68 on the PGA Tour at age 14, by having at least a share of the lead on the back nine of three major championships when she was 16, by coming within nine holes of qualifying for the U.S. Open and by developing shots that few other women were capable of hitting.

“For sure, it’s definitely off my back,” said Wie, now 20 and in her third year at Stanford. “I think that hopefully, life will be a lot better. But I still have a lot of work to do. I still have a lot to improve. It just feels so great right now.”

But as one burden is lifted, another is soon to arrive.

The timing could not have been better for the LPGA Tour, which is starved for attention and struggling to climb out of an economic morass that likely will lead to the fewest tournaments it has had in years.

The tour finally got rid of its commissioner, Carolyn Bivens, and replaced her with Michael Whan, who is to be introduced in Houston on Wednesday and takes over at the start of 2010.

The LPGA needs star power, and no other player can move the needle like Wie. She was attracting the largest crowds even when Annika Sorenstam was still playing and winning majors.

Paula Creamer was 18 and had not gone through high school graduation when she captured her first LPGA Tour victory. Morgan Pressel was 18 when she became the youngest major champion in LPGA Tour history. Neither generated as much attention as Wie winning for the first time in Mexico at a tournament that was shown on tape delay.

Wie won the Lorena Ochoa Invitational, named after the No. 1 player in women’s golf. Yet not even Ochoa could not carry the tour.

Wie has the kind of appeal not seen since Nancy Lopez — but only if she keeps winning.

— The Associated Press