13yr old girl tries qualifying for PGA event

[Clarkmeister]

http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/story?id=1492129

Michelle Wie, a 13 year old girl shot a 73 from the mens tees (the course is 6800 yds) trying to qualify for the Sony Open yesterday. She missed qualifying by 7 strokes. She finished 47th in the 96 person field as the youngest player, as well as the only woman. The field included 12 PGA players and 12 from the Nationwide (former Buy.com) tour. She can drive the ball over 300 yards.

All I can say is wow. Color me massively impressed.

Another link to the yardages HDPM talks about below:

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2003/Jan/14/sp/sp12a.html

[HDPM]

Yeah, I read another article on this that specified some of her yardages. She had like 125 left on one 497 yard hole or something. Sure wind or conditions might have been in play, but this girl can hit it. She is the legitimate contender for a spot on the men's tour someday. We'll see. But I am amazed. I didn't think there would be a woman to compete at that level for a very long time, and here is a 13y/o girl doing it. Very impressive. Only thing is, sometimes golfers show a lot at very young ages then don't improve a lot. I hope she continues on the path tho.

[M2d]

The air there produces great golfers. Too bad I wore a gas mask while I attended =)
I read somewhere that a reporter wrote that her consistancy isn't great and that she needs to work on her short game. Sheesh, give the kid a break. She's a seventh grader. How much consistancy or precision does any seventh grader have in anything he or she does? If she doesn't get burnt out, she'll be a great one.

[Clarkmeister]

I think that if in a decade she were able to compete regularly on the PGA tour with any moderate amount of success, she could very well end up becoming the most famous and well known athlete of all time. One shudders at the frenzy if she wins a major. Long way to go yet, I know, but just try and imagine what would happen.

I really hope for her sake that her father protects her as well as Earl protected Tiger. Everyone will want a piece of her.

Certainly no reason to get ahead of ourselves, but I'm pulling for her. I particularly liked her quote saying it "wasn't fair" that whats-her-name qualified for the Hartford Open from the womens tees. This girl is tough.

[M2d]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/golfonline/womensgolf/features/2002/wie_1202/


Here's an article about her from last year.

[Gitz]

At 5ft10inches and 155lbs she should of been playing pop warner football at 13 /forums/images/icons/wink.gif

[olemissgolf]

That this 13 yr. old girl shot 73 from the men's tees in a monday qualifier is extremely impressive. Extremely. But to jump from that to having her on the PGA Tour and possibly winning a major is a leap of astrinomical proportions.
The odd of her ever winning a PGA Tour event are about the same as winning the lottery 3 times in a row. And the odds of her winning a major are 100x that. I would put the odds of her ever playing in a major(men's) at over 5,000 to 1. The best woman ever, on her best week ever, would not finish in the top 10 of a PGA tour event.

Having said this, I wish her all the best, and I'm sure she will achieve many great things.

[M2d]

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2003/Jan/15/sp/sp05a.html

Here's an article on the Junior pro-am at the Sony. Granted, Jerry Kelly was probably exaggerating, but his quote about Michelle Wie is interesting since it gives a pro's perspective (albeit, one filled with media hype). More telling is his assesment of her personality. If he thought otherwise, he'd probably just not say anything. Hopefully her parents can keep her head on her shoulders and her focus in the right direction.

[Clarkmeister]

I agree that she has a looooooooooong way to go. But.

She is 13.

She's got another entire decade before she has to worry about such things. Lets face it, the primary reason women golfers don't compete on the PGA is length. Nothing else. Its not like men have some sort of inherent putting advantage. Since she has the requisite length, there is no reason to think that she can't in 10 years make it through Q school, get a card and make money.

I'd certainly place her odds at winning a PGA event at substantially better than winning the lottery 3 times in a row. I'm sure you realize that though. Heck, they are substantially better than winning once.

Here's where I'd put her chances of doing various things in her lifetime. Obviously raw off the top of my head BS numbers:
Winning an LPGA event: 4-1
Winning an LPGA major: 30-1
Legitimately Qualifying for a PGA event: 5-1
Winning a PGA event: 900-1
Winning a PGA major: 35,000-1

Anyhoo - my post you responded to is really a big "can you imagine" scenario. Is there any doubt she would be one of, if not THE most famous athlete of all time were she able to win a PGA event?

[andyfox]

I think she should apply for a membership at Augusta.

[Clarkmeister]

Andy,

Thats why I am so worried for her, and pray her parents keep her very insulated. I hope she surrounds herself with people she can trust. Because if she were able to even qualify and compete with the men, the media storm would be unparallelled. Everyone will want her to take up their cause, regardless of whether she wants to or not.

I don't like the way he gravy trained his son for a few years, but Earl Woods did a phenomenal job making sure TIger was prepared to deal with those demands. I hope that if she continues to be in the public eye, Michelles parents get some advice from the Woods'.

[olemissgolf]

I appreciate that you came up with these numbers off the top of your head, as have I. I'm surprised you give such long odds of her winning an LPGA event and major. It sounds as if these are almost a given. I'm also surprised that you put the odds of her qualifying (legit) for a PGA event as close to the same as winning on the LPGA, if only for the reason that I expect the number of LPGA events she plays in will be much higher than the number of times she tries to qualify for a PGA event.
Also, length is a major reason why women don't compete with men, but it is not (by a long shot) the only reason. The best PGA tour players are better at every phase of the game (including putting) than the best LPGA tour players. The worst PGA tour players are much better at all phases than the worst LPGA tour players. And so on.
I have been to the Dave Pelz Short Game School, and he is considered an authority on the short game. He says that the PGA players have substantially better short games than the LPGA players. I expect that most LPGA and PGA players would agree with him.

[brad]

i wonder if 'girl' is appropriate since she probably started menstrating at 8. (environmental estrogens and all)