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I think most of us agree that Michelle Wie probably has the best ball striking ability in the LPGA right now and that her putting is very mediocre. Do you think it is possible for Michelle to improve her putting significantly, like 0.5 stroke per round (she would win the three tournaments this year if her putting is 0.5 stroke better per round)? I am fairly new to golf. To those that have been watching golf for a long time, have you seen any PGA or LPGA player improved his or her putting significantly over the course of their career? I think if she can do that then she will win half of the tournaments she plays in.

I haven't really watched much golf, but I believe she can improver her putting by 2-3 strokes over 4 years. She should have more mental toughness. She should be able to read greens better. She will be done with high school (don't know if she will go to college). I think she should improve her putting. Will she? Time will tell. You cant really look at past players and how they have improved putting in their careers, you would have to go back to when they were Wie's age and see how they improved from there, and Im willing to bet that most improved significantly from the age of 16 on.

Absolutely. As she gains more experience her putting will become more consistent and these little short putts that give her trouble will be a thing of the past.

Ditch the glasses Michelle.
From what I have seen this last week she can't read the line when she has those glasses ON.

Lose those fashion shades and get rid of the Nike fun-house putter and maybe she can improve.

She supposedly has one of the better instructors (although the worse she plays the worse he looks).

Watching her putt, it is almost like she believes her own hype and thinks she can just walk up and whack the ball and it will go in.

Her putting stroke is good and she should improve. When she starts averaging 25 to 30 putts on the LPGA Tour, she'll be a regular winner. The rest of her game is just better.

Speaking of the rest of her game, her accuracy off the tee is good but even when she's in the LPGA rough she doesn't have much of a problem getting out of it. This is where her PGA experience has helped her. That and the fact that LPGA "rough" is far from it, especially for someone with her strength.

Case in point. Wie missed the fairway on the 18th hole, yet she stuck and spun her ball backwards on the green. That should not happen from the rough but it did for two reasons. 1. The rough isn't high and 2. The greens were not allowed to dry out on the weekend. I thought she landed her approach exactly where she needed to given the break of the green and the fact that she was coming out of the rough..... Huge difference between LPGA & PGA set ups.

Length: 6,600 yds vs. 7,300 yds
Rough: A solid two inches shorter on the LPGA Tour
Greens: Soft & receptive vs. Hard & fast
Fairways: Softer (less roll) on the PGA Tour
Width of Fairways: Not sure this is very different except perhaps in the U.S. Open where the USGA narrows them.... much to the delight of Fred Funk.

If that course is under PGA/USGA control, the greens would have been hard and the rough would have been significantly longer. Saturday was very windy, Sunday was very breezy and our spring season has been especially dry. That equates to hard and fast greens unless they're being watered aggressively.

On Sunday she and her caddy were talking all the time and seemed to work together very well. Yet I thought that on the greens Wie pretty much worked by herself.

Just on Wie's caddy. He isn't supposed to be very good at reading greens, or so Juli Inskster said.

And I think it is better for Michelle to learn herself anyway, because as she has said, her caddy doesn't know how hard she is going to hit the ball.

In the poll, I voted 2-3 strokes gained. I would have voted more if there had been an option.
She is a very hard worker and has alot of drive. I think within the 4 years, she will no longer miss practically anything inside 3 feet.
Also, it wouldn't take much to knock in a couple more of those 5-15 feet putts that she missed alot of at the lpga championship.

On the flip side, she is supposed to have putted very well at the SK and been near the top of putting stats.

I don't think she has the best ballstriking ability on the LPGA Tour right now, and I don't see how her putting could not improve. It's not very good at all, nor is her short game.

If I were her I'd take some of that $10 mil and give Dave Pelz or Stan Utley a call.

Did that make her 50 foot putt longer or shorter?

Not the best ballstrinking.
Putting can only improve.
Putting not good at all.
Nor is her short game.

What part of her game then makes her place high in lpga events? She must be good at something.

Michelle definitely has skills. I know she says that she wants to compete with the men, but I think she should stick to the LPGA for now because she would definitely be a formidable force there, gain confidence, and rack up some wins.

She is only 16 and she can only improve. Her putting is mediocre at best and I'm sure with more practice and more experience on the greens, it can only get better.

Putting has to get better, it couldn't be any worse!

I agree with League on this - her shortcomings aren't so bad as to prevent her from placing high in LPGA events. She doesn't throw up huge numbers, and you don't have to get to 20 under to win many of these events, so shooting 2 or 3 under a round will always have you in the hunt on the LPGA Tour.

She drives the ball well, and her ball striking is good but not the best of the ladies. I would think her long game could use a bit of work as well, because you would think she has the distance to dominate the par 5's on the LPGA Tour.

Of everything she needs to work on the most, it's putting and short game, just like the rest of us. Fancy that

Overall a very solid game, but she doesn't stand out in any area besides length.

(A side note: am I the only one who thinks that freaky Nike putter needs to go? Let's all chip in and send her a Scotty!)

Those putters just don't fit my eye either. That she's using one tells me that she knows that she struggles with her putter. Every one of my friends who have resorted to one of those hiddeous things did so because they were struggling on the greens.

Her chipping around the green looked excellent to me. She'd always get close but sometimes her putter would let her down. She had to make silly flop shots on #15 & #16 on Sunday and they were both superbly executed.

Her short wedge into #16 is the one shot she wishes she had back. No excuse for that one.

I will say this about her though, you can tell that she's a worker and a learner. THAT is not good news for the rest of the LPGA Tour (or is it?)

Do you think David Leadbetter would want to share his spotlight with someone like Dave Pelz? I doubt it.
I know that Phil Mikelson is working with Dave Pelz but I am not sure if Phil Mickelson has a separate swing coach.